EquationTale
by KuraiFriendku
Summary: An AU in which the algorithm you input changes the role of every character. There will be serious times, heartfelt times, and above all, Fishy the Fish. Congratulations. You failed at corrupting the game.
1. Ow

**Gore warning in the second paragraph. After that it's mostly okay.**

* * *

They say right before death, your entire life will flash before your eyes. When you're busy falling down a long and dark hole, images of dirt and roots whizzing by you, going much too fast for those eyes to concentrate on any one item in particular, it all seemed too true. Images of his mother conjured onto the screen, followed by pictures of his father, then his cousins (all of whom he missed dearly). Scenes that brought a smile to the teenager's face, scenarios that would have almost made him shed a tear would that tear have not fallen behind him as he plummeted further down this hole, all within a matter of seconds. He reached one dark-skinned hand up into his hair, running it through the black thickness that weaved over his eyes and letting out a small whimper when he had finally reached the end.

This is it, he would have thought, had his brains not splattered across the dark stone on the floor. As soon as the human's body had made contact with gravel and dirt, several rocks jutted into him- not deeply, no, but enough to cause damage to the organs in the front of him, which had been pushed back into farther-reaching ones from the pressure of smacking onto ground. A few stones had hit his skull and thus, causing it to fracture in several areas. Gravity dragged his brain- arguably the most important part of the body- along with it, smashing it against the front of the fractured skull and causing instant (but not very peaceful) death.

A small heart emerged from the body, a purple one, however this had not gone noticed by the carcass, whose eyes were faced toward the floor. The spirit inside, though their SOUL outside, continued to remain in the body for quite some time afterward, refusing to accept the pain that would come with their physical self should they had remained alive, refusing to accept the fact that they no longer remained alive. It may have been DETERMINATION that prevented their SOUL from shattering, but it was perseverance that kept them holding onto the only form they knew.

At some point, the human had lost consciousness. His spirit had stayed in full awareness of what was going on, until one point, they, too, had fallen under, and when they reawoke, they felt...alive again. Their body was...different than last time.

He looked down at his new self, running his metallic hands along the paint coating with an expression of quiet curiosity. Well, this was new… When his hands graced the area around his stomach, he let out a small gasp, feeling a slight heat emanate from it. His eyes would follow the direction of his hands and then widen, pupils dilating and mouth remaining agape as those hands would trail over the glass containing a glowing purple heart- his glowing purple heart.

"Am I...dreaming?" the former human muttered, bringing one hand up to his head and running it through his hair, finding at least that remained the same. "This...this feels so real…"

When the now-robot turned around, he gasped once more, this time in horror. If he had any stomach acid, he would have vomited, but thankfully, whoever created this new form did not supply him with such a corrosive substance. Instead, the metallic body was brought to its knees at the sight of its former self, said bloody carcass laying sprawled out on the floor. With a small sigh, the robot reached out for the notebook he had been carrying when he fell, which was now a foot or so away. Its cover was still mostly the same deep purple color it had always been with only a small splash of crimson staining the very bottom left corner.

"Even if this is a dream," he sighed, picking up the pencil that had (thankfully) hit the book sideways, allowing nothing more than a crack to form compared to if it had hit the hard ground as his body had, "I suppose it's best not to dwell on...this." With one last glance over at his newly deceased body, our protagonist sighed. He reached his hands wearily under the face to feel for his glasses, only to find that he was pressing shattered glass against his scarred face. This would cause him to wince and quickly draw his hands back, wiping it on the ground below him.

"I knew it was a good idea to bring a spare," he muttered. The robot then reached into the back pocket of his old body's jeans and pulled out a (thankfully unharmed) glasses case. It was then opened, revealing a pair of cloudy white glasses that looked almost identical to the pair he had been wearing when he fell.

Without another word, our protagonist slipped the case into one of the two long boots that now dawned his legs and, when he finally took a moment to observe them, he would extend the leg that now held his pair of spectacles, letting what little light seeped through the hole above him to reflect off their shiny pink material.

 _High heels,_ he thought to himself. _Nice touch._

Once more the robot would run a metallic hand through his latex hair, breathing a sigh of relief upon feeling that it still felt like its human counterpart. When he had first touched his robot hair, there was just the slightest possibility it was an illusion, but now he was sure that softness had remained the same. He doubted it was the usual material, but...there was no harm in pretending the latex was human hair, right? It would at least provide some sort of comfort.

His eyes then trailed over to the opening that he had originally fallen through, slowly ascending until they had reached the top. It was no wonder he had died from that fall… There was certainly no way he was getting back up without a very long ladder.

He then directed his attention in the opposite direction, now facing a corridor that continued for a few yards before appearing to veer to the left. With a deep breath in, the former human stood, stumbled, and slowly made his way down the dark hall. It wasn't long before another opening appeared, this time in the shape of a door frame. The protagonist barely considered the consequences of continuing forward before stepping through it, quickly met by a near pitch-black room. The only source of light was a small hole in the ceiling, which descended down unto a very small puddle.

The robot peered over it, letting his latex hair fall overtop of one eye, though quickly took a step back when something splashed at him.

"Hey there!" exclaimed a small fish, which must have been no bigger than his forearm.

He curiously tilted his head to the side, an 8-bit version of his voice echoing through the speakers that served as a voice box when our protagonist spoke. "Hello…"

"My name's FISHY!" the creature continued, flopping around a small bit and splashing some water droplets to the side of the puddle. "FISHY THE FISH!"

The robot nodded slowly, a look of slight confusion sprawled onto his face. "You can...talk."

As if it hadn't heard him (or completely ignored him), the fish continued, its voice rugged and...slightly feminine, though very rough, like a fish on steroids. "You must be new to the Underground, huh, punk? Someone outta teach you how things work around here! Guess that's gonna have to be me! Ready? Too bad!"

It was at this point the robot squinted, now utterly lost in what was going on. The heart in his stomach had squeezed its way through his chest, now standing before him and glowing slightly. The robot would have outstretched a hand to grace it had his attention not immediately been redirected towards the smiling goldfish, which seemed to loom over him despite being stuck in a puddle.

"You see that heart?" it asked, taking a small leap. "That's your SOUL. It's everything you live for- everything you stand by! It starts off as a weak shrimp, but it can grow strong through LV!"

"Uh...right." Our protag then tilted slightly to the side, watching as his heart followed his hand, which would reach out to the side and then back towards the center. Well that's… interesting. "And...what is LV, exactly?"

"What's LV?" The fish chuckled (fish can chuckle?) and straightened itself out. "LOVE! LV stands for LOVE! And lucky for you, I got some right here."

It chuckled some more, a few small...were those pebbles?...drawing out of the surface of the puddle and forming a small circle around it. "Here's some… "happy blades." So how about you run into them?"

The purple heart shimmered for half a second as its owner nodded, sending it forth to collect the small stones until said objects had reached it, at which point he fell pack in pain. A small health bar, which had gone unseen to the owner until this point, quickly shot down from a full 20/20 HP to only 1/20 HP. He collapsed to the ground, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks as the fish's face contorted into a demonic expression that no fish should have the capability of making.

"You punk!" it exclaimed, letting out a distorted, feminine-sounding laughter as more pebbles began to encircle the purple heart. They slowly began to close in around our protagonist, who let out a small cry just as they were about to hit and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, however, the stones had been knocked to the ground, and Fishy simply stared at them in disbelief. "What the-!?"

It happened rather quickly, but what the former human could catch within the next few moments was another of his kind- this one dawned in a green robe with a single yellow stripe, holding red eyes that glinted in agitation- bringing their foot up to force contact with the fish and send it flying to...well, he didn't actually keep track of that part. His attention was more focused on the athletic human, roughly around the same age as him who had just punted the demon fish across the room like a soccer ball.

They then turned to the robot, a look sprawled across their face that read 'you're next' until they noticed the tears that had been spilling out of his eyes, and it allowed them to relax a small bit.

"Fucking fish..." they muttered. Their pale hand reached out for the protagonist's, cupping it gently but firmly enough so that it wouldn't slip out as they pulled him to his feet. However, upon noticing his hesitation, they sighed. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"

They only shook their head when met with the lack of reply. Right. Can't force someone to talk. "Okay, whatever. My name's Chara. I kinda live here."

Chara paused, allowing this new person to nod slowly, taking deep breaths to calm himself. After a few moments of awkward staring and a whole lot of breathing, the robotic teen removed his hand, instead choosing to wrap his arms around his chest as his heart began to sink back into it.

A few more moments, and Chara was beginning to feel a bit strange, so they decided to break the tension in the air by scratching the back of their head. "Y'know, you're the first human to fall down here in awhile. ...you're human, right?"

"I _was_ ," the robot replied with a small roll of the eyes. He placed one foot a bit of ways away from the other in a confident fashion and settled a hand onto his hip, the other jutting out quite femininely. "Until I fell down that stupid hole."

Chara nodded, clearly unsure how a hole caused a human to turn into a creature of metal, but deciding not to question it and quickly snapped themself out of confusion. "Right. But you have a human SOUL. Close enough."

"I...suppose so?" Well, what other SOUL was he supposed to have? A demon's?

"C'mon, then," the human teen coaxed, waving a hand for the newer of the two to follow. "I'll lead you through this place."

There was a small moment of hesitation before our protagonist reached his hand out, crying, "Wait!" to the figure that was beginning ahead.

"Hm?" Chara turned back, hands going into a set of pockets that hung in their robe.

"...Chara?" he called, almost in question to make sure he got the name right. "Where...where am I?"

"The Ruins. I already told you that. But, uh...now that you mention it, you never told me your name."

Name? Oh, right. That was...probably a good thing to give out to the person that just saved your skin- er, metal- from a psycho fish. "Meckenzie," he replied simply, but quickly added in with a smug smile, "the _fabulous_ Meckenzie!"

"Meckenzie?" Chara chuckled. "That's a human name. Nah, we gotta give you a robot name now. What about…"

Meckenzie...Meckenzie...Meck…Me...Metta...Metamorphosis means change; Meckenzie here changed from human to robot...

Chara snapped their fingers, a lightbulb going off above their head. "I got it! Mettaton."

"Mettaton?"

"Mettaton," Chara repeated, turning back around. "Y'know, like metamorphosis, metabolism…meta. Greek for 'after'. You after you're a robot."

"What?" Mettaton frowned. "I'm not a-"

He cut himself off when he felt his metal hand glide across his side, made of the same material. Oh, right...he was a robot now, somehow. He was still waiting for an explanation on that, mind you, but...well, he had been looking for a new name anyway. Meckenzie was just so...boy.

"Mettaton," the robot repeated with a smile, taking a peek ahead of them as the sensation of saying it rolled off his tongue. Another doorway, huh? Wonder where that leads to.

"I like it."


	2. He Reminds You of Someone

Puzzles.

Holy shit there were _puzzles!_

Mettaton stared at the second switch and rolled his eyes, flicking it with such ease and grace that it appeared simple enough for a child to do.

Oh wait, it _was_ simple enough for a child to do!

"Y'know," he said, turning around once the task was complete. "I don't think it's an overly difficult puzzle when you mark which switch is supposed to be flipped."

Chara blushed- more than usual- and swiveled their eyes to the side slightly, arms folding. "Yeah, well, I'm used to kids coming down here, okay? Jeez. You're the oldest one I've seen since…"

The teen paused. Their red, hardened eyes glazed over with a look of longing. Mettaton didn't recognize it at first, but it didn't take long for the emotion to click with him. It was what he felt when all of his cousins went missing. That feeling of want, need...loneliness...emptiness.

"Are you alright, darling?" he asked. The robot's head moved forward slightly while his mind whizzed around in trying to process all the nonverbal cues Chara had been giving off. He was about to open his mouth once more when the living human moved a hand in front of him, blinking away any signs of distraught that they had previously been experiencing.

"I'm fine," they replied quickly, regaining the confident composure held before.

Mettaton blinked, his face moving back away from the hand but expression of curiosity still remaining. "Since when?"

"Since nothing." Chara turned sharply toward the room's exit and began to make their way out when a hand reached for them. It lightly graced their shoulder, making them pause, before retracting back to its owner, who now held not a look of curiosity, but a soft expression.

"Darling, if something's bothering you, it's not good to keep it bottled up like that."

"Don't call me darling," was all Chara said before leading the robot into the next room.

It wasn't until they had reached the next area that the tension was broken by words, which, of course, were spoken by the more experienced of the two on the Underground. It was preceded by a small sigh, but eventually, words did come out.

"Things are probably gonna attack you down here. Look, it's...they're not that harmful, okay? I don't know how many times I have to say this…" They sighed once more (though more of a 'huff' this time) and made their way over to the training dummy, giving it a small pat on the head. "Just take this dummy for example. Is it gonna kill you? No! So _don't fucking attack it_. Monsters will jump out and-"

"Woah woah woah!" Mettaton's vibrant magenta eyes widened as he took a small step back. "Monsters? You mean like that fish thing?"

"Uh, kinda. Not _really_ -"

"Things are gonna try to kill me!?"

This is the part where Chara would let out a breath of aggravation, their hand running against their face to calm themself. "No, no... NO! Look, the monsters in the Ruins just get spooked a little easily, okay? No one's gonna hurt you! DO NOT. FUCKING. FIGHT ANYONE."

The robot, mouth open to speak, quickly closed it, deciding against saying anything back. The look in Chara's red eyes was enough to convince him of that. Right. No fighting. Got it.

After a moment to ensure no retaliations would occur, Chara patted the dummy on the head again lightly, sighed, then pointed toward Mettaton's heart, which began to seep back out of his chest and into the open air. Three buttons sprawled out beneath him- ACT, ITEM, and MERCY- which his own set of magenta eyes immediately drew toward.

"If something attacks you, just wait. Like I said, the monsters here aren't very strong or powerful. They can't kill you. They're just a little frightened. If you talk to them for long enough, I can come over and calm 'em down, 'kay? It's not too hard. Don't make any sudden movements and you should be good." It was at that point Chara nudged their head toward the dummy, taking a small step back and shooting the robot a smile. "Try practicing on this guy."

Mettaton nodded before once more redirecting his eyes on the buttons below him. FIGHT, ACT, ITE-...wait, there were four buttons now. When did the fourth one get there?

" _Hehehe..."_

Mettaton's head whipped around, but when he scanned the room for signs of life, he found it was just him and Chara. Well, that he could see, anyway. There might be an invisible monster or something… He really didn't want to think about that possibility.

"Did you hear that?" was all he asked, to which Chara raised an eyebrow.

"Hear what?"

The robot paused for a moment, waiting to hear any other audible noises, but simply shook his head.

"It was probably just a froggit," Chara muttered before taking another step back. "Well?"

"Oh, right, sorry."

It was at this point Mettaton blinked, a wide smile spreading across his face, and he strode forward.

 _*Y-you encounter the Dummy._

Mettaton's head whipped around once more, but just like last time, there was no face to put the voice to. Only Chara's confused one, and he was pretty sure it sounded a lot more girly than theirs.

He simply let out a small sigh, moving his hand out to the various different buttons and watching as the heart followed each. Hey, Chara said not to FIGHT, so...ACT?

 _*D-Dummy_

Right. Yup. This was the Dummy.

 _*Check or...t-talk?_

Okay, now he's pretty sure there's either someone there or he's going crazy, but it's probably best not to _look_ like you've lost your marbles, right? Yeah. Chara obviously can't hear that voice, so just pretend it's not there…

Slowly, Mettaton moved his hand over to the 'Check' button, allowing it to stay there for a moment before he turned his attention toward the dummy.

 _*Dummy - Attack z-zero, defense z-zero_

 _*C-cotton heart and cyan SOUL…_

 _*He rem-minds you of someone._

"He does?" Mettaton blinked, watching as the dummy remained unmoving and leaving his heart on the 'check' option.

 _*Dummy st-stands around absentmindedly._

Yeah...he can see that. You don't have to narrate everything, disembodied voice.

The former human tilted his head slightly, eyes gracing the figure's form. Well, he certainly hadn't seen the dummy before, but...the voice was right. It _did_ remind him of someone. But...who?

 _*D-Dummy looks like it's going t-to fall over._

Mettaton's eyes widened as he continued staring. Well, if it fell over, then he'd just have to pick it back up! After all, wouldn't want this place to look like a garbage can, would we?

 _*..._

"..."

At least the voice stopped. That was a relief.

 _*...I-it's a dummy…_

Never mind.

Mettaton continued watching the dummy, ignoring the voice's remark about why it wasn't replying. He didn't expect it to reply. He expected to find out why the thing was reminding him of someone. Instead, he got to watch the thing casually...float away? Okay, that's...probably not the weirdest thing so far (it's still a tie between being a robot and Fishy the Fish). Definitely up there, though.

 _*D-Dummy tires of your aimless shen-nanigans…_

It does? Mettaton turned his head back to where he was _certain_ he heard the voice but shook it once more upon finding nothing. Okay, definitely going crazy. A lot of definites for someone so confused as to what was going on.

 _*You w-won!_

 _*You earned z-zero XP and zero g-gold._

Chara, who, mind you, had been watching the entire scene, could only stare at the dummy with an expression just as baffled as the robot's. They blinked a few times at where the dummy had originally stood and simply shook their head, turning to leave.

"C'mon," they said before exiting into the next room.

Mettaton, however did not follow at first. He took another look around the room after watching Chara make their way through the exit, eyes scanning for another creature and, finally, gasping, jumping a full yard back when he saw one.

What caused the robot distress was not anything particularly intimidating, but instead, a small yellow lizard-looking creature stood in the middle of the room, a smile perched on her face as she cheerfully raised a mustard-colored hand to wave.

"H-hi," the creature said, rubbing her hands along her white T-shirt, clicking a pen in the chest pocket before nodding towards the astonished metallic creature.

Said man blinked, slowly gaining the confidence to reach his hand out toward the lizard girl, who chuckled nervously. When his hand went through her, however, she simply laughed even more.

"You can't t-touch me," she said, arms folding across her chest, specifically the area his metallic hand had reached through. "I-I'm a ghost."

"Were you the one talking?" the robot asked, taking a quick peek at where the dummy had been before quickly refocusing his gaze on the being in front of him, who nodded.

"Yeah, that was...th-that was me. I, uh, I thought you might need some…" Her eyes darted to the side. "...help?"

"Why do you sound so unsure, darling?" Mettaton asked, adding in a quick chuckle of his own. If she really was a ghost (and, contrary to what he might have believed before he died, there certainly seemed to be a life after death...or he was dreaming. Or going crazy. All three seemed pretty likely, to think of it…), she certainly was a nice one. It seemed like it, anyway. "It was nice of you to try helping me. I thank you for that!"

The ghost blinked a few times, eyes wide, a small blush crossing over her face. "You...y-you do?"

"Of course," he added in, offering her a warm smile in return. "You remind me a lot of my cousin, you know."

"I do? O-oh, uh…" The ghost was still trying to think of a way to finish that, however, when the sight of the human from earlier caught her eye, and she quickly side-stepped out of Mettaton's view. "I-I think you should go now."

"What's taking so long?"

Mettaton turned his head at the sound of the voice, giving a small smile to his current companion as well when they caught his sight. "I was just talking to, uh…" Oh, that's right! He hadn't gotten her name yet. "...lovely…"

However, when he turned back to the spot he could have sworn she was in, there was nothing visible but air, causing Mettaton's face to scrunch in confusion and Chara to raise an eyebrow.

"I swear," he repeated, now redirecting his attention to the human in front of him. "There was someone there. I know there was."

Chara nodded, turned around and waved for him to follow. Riiiight...someone there. Of course. They simply shrugged before heading to the next room over, this time barely giving Mettaton much of a chance to catch up. Thankfully, he was fast.

Once he had managed to reach the living teen, Mettaton took a glance beyond them and frowned. Man, this place was so bleak…

"There's another puzzle here, I think," the living teen said as they took a couple steps ahead. "Hope you know how to solve it."

The two began to make their way forward when, suddenly, a large frog-like creature stepped onto the path. Well, large for a frog. It only stood up a little past Mettaton's calf, but for a frog, it might has well been on steroids.

 _*F-Froggit attacks you,_ the dinosaur lady from earlier muttered, causing Mettaton to take another glimpse around. It seemed as if Chara hadn't noticed the intrusion and continued forward, much to the robot's dismay.

Once more, when the heart popped out of his chest, he let it hover over the 'ACT' then 'Check' options and observed the creature.

 _*Froggit - Attack four, defense f-five_

 _*Life is d-difficult for…for…_

Mettaton blinked once, taking a quick glance back to where he could have sworn the voice was coming from. That ghost from earlier...she sounded almost...afraid?

"Darling?" Mettaton called out, causing Chara to turn their head. Oh, geez, a monster. Let's ignore the fact that Mettaton is looking the wrong way. Instead, they quickly skipped over toward the monster and gently picked it up, giving a half-hearted smile to the thing in the process.

"Hey, lil' guy. You got lost, huh?"

This, in turn, made Mettaton look back at his current guide, who was now cradling the froggit like a little baby. Honestly, if it was anyone else, they probably would have laughed at the sudden change from rugged tomboy to caring mother in a matter of seconds, but this was not anyone. This was Mettaton, and he would only watch with intrigue. Wow...there's a side of them he'd never thought he'd see (granted they haven't been together any longer than fifteen minutes, but a lot has happened in that fifteen minutes).

"There you go," the human said, bending down to allow the froggit to slide out of their arms. "And go tell your friends that he won't hurt them either."

After watching the monster calmly hop away, Chara then turned back to the robot. There was a peaceful expression present on their face, though this was quickly replaced when their attention had been caught by said bot's stare.

"What?" they hissed, body language reverting to the default assertive toughness.

"Nothing," Mettaton replied, and, honestly, his even tone implied that he did, in fact, have nothing against what had just occurred, which was...surprising. The teen was at least expecting a bit of a bitten down snicker or _something_ , but those magenta eyes...they only showed understanding. It was certainly not something Chara was used to from a _human_ soul.

They probably should have said something- they _really_ should've said something- but Chara was feeling just the slightest bit off put by the lack of this human's normality. Honestly, that was something they should be grateful for. Humans were horrible creatures... No, instead, they turned their eyes sharply to the side before continuing on.

It wasn't until the pair had reached a small bridge that the alive one looked back at their dead companion. Mettaton had caught a glimpse of a sign they passed and thought he felt something drawing him to it, but all it said was something about blueprints (and not his), so he decided to ignore it.

"This is the puzzle…" Chara muttered once they had reached a bridge coated in spikes. Mettaton took one glance at the puzzle and flinched away.

"How am I supposed to get over that!?"

"Yeah... " They sighed, eyes meandering over it once more. Honesty, they weren't entirely sure what they were thinking when they had first created that thing… It was their first puzzle, after all. That...probably explained a lot. "Here just, uh...follow me."

The human trailed their foot along the edge of the puzzle for a moment before taking a firm step along one of the spike edges, which then receded away from their feet. Honestly, they'd memorized most (if not, all) the puzzles in the Ruins, but they still understood why some seemed intimidating to others.

The robot, on the other hand, would quickly shake his head. "What if I miss step? What if I fall into the water? Can this body even handle water!?"

" _Fine_ ," Chara groaned and reached back to grab a firm hold of Mettaton's hand. They really didn't feel like putting up with this today. "Try not to slip."

It took but a matter of a minute or two before the two made it across, at which point the more masculine one (yes, the still-living one) would mutter something along the lines of, "I have no idea what the hell was running through my mind…" before letting go of Mettaton's hand and hurrying through to the next room, the robot keeping right at their heels.

Though, upon entering a long hallway, Chara snapped their fingers and hastily shouted out, "SHIT!"

"What is it?"

They clapped their hands together suddenly, staring at Mettaton with wide eyes and a tight frown, then quickly spun around in the opposite direction. "Look, I gotta grab a few things from the store," they said, already speed walking down the hall. "You did fine so far, so I don't think you should have much trouble up ahead."

The robot nodded, doing his best to keep up with the living human as they hurried forward.

"Just remember what I said- talk to the monsters and calm 'em down. You should be fine. My house is at the end of the Ruins and the puzzles between here and there aren't _too_ difficult, so just meet me down there, 'kay?"

Once at the end of the hall, Chara turned back to their companion for an answer, to which he nodded.

"Cool."

And just like that, they were gone.

* * *

 **Wow, I have people making suggestions already after the first chapter. I...should probably explain what this AU is about, huh?**

 **Alright, uh, before we delve into that, I wanna answer some comments...well, one comment from chapter one, though hopefully more in the future.**

MIGHTYNO.9SUCKS - I appreciate the fact that you like this enough to make suggestions! There will be some more about those below, but just to let you know, two of your suggestions I had already planned on doing, so...stop predicting the future!

 **Now, uh, what this AU is about**... It started out just taking a list of characters and putting them through an algorithm which used both StoryShift and UnderSwap roles. If EquationTale seems like a rip off of either of those...sorry? Uh, it's more than just characters in weird roles, though, so hopefully the story is different enough from them that it doesn't seem like that...

To those who don't know what an algorithm is, using the definition by Google, "a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer." I'm essentially creating an equation and plugging in characters. In short: math. I'm using math to find out what character goes where. Hence the name, EquationTale. The only one that _doesn't_ follow this rule is the person in Papyrus's role, but that's because I'm having trouble finding a reason as to why one of Muffet's spider babies would replace the Great Papyrus...

If we're talking story-wise and want to break the fourth wall, then whoever is playing this version of UnderTale tried to corrupt the game by messing with the game's coding, however only ended up changing what people are where.

The point still remains, though, that I already have all the characters assigned roles. After all, the whole point of this was to take weird, freaky shifts (like Chara being in Toriel's spot, Mettaton being in Frisk's spot, etc.) and trying to come up with a story that makes sense. If I happen to have missed some minor characters and need suggestions for them, then I will ask, but for the most part, everyone already has their role.

I appreciate you guys liking the story enough for suggestions, though! It just makes me more DETERMINED!

Also, uh, the more people that like my story and follow it, the more motivation I have to continue...so don't be afraid to share this fanfic with others! I have a tendency to loose motivation for stories easily...it would help immensely!


	3. White Chocolate is not Chocolate

"W-what are you doing?"

The ghost lady watched as he sat down in the leaf pile, holding his notebook underneath the sparkling stone. It was just shiny enough to reflect what little light was in the Ruins, illuminating the area around it, which Mettaton quite readily took to his advantage.

"Recording my progress, darling," he replied, as if it were obvious.

The ghost lady took a moment to examine the stone before sitting down next to him, her eyes gazing over to the cursive he was scribbling along the lined paper.

" _-Fell down a hole_

 _-Died_

 _-Woke up as a robot_

 _-Met weird fish thing_

 _-Weird fish thing died from nice human_

 _-Human's named Chara_

 _-Chara acts tough, but they're really a sweetheart_

 _-Dummies fly?_

 _-Led me through some puzzles_

 _-Puzzles are really easy_

 _-Something about being the oldest one to fall since...wouldn't say when_

 _-There are other humans?_

 _-Monsters don't hurt - do not FIGHT_

 _-Chara's house at the end of the Ruins_

 _-Spike puzzles…"_

When he finished, the robot glanced up, pushing a finger along the bridge of his nose to readjust his cloudy glasses, to which the lizard lady gasped upon seeing.

"I-is your eyesight that b-bad?" she stuttered out, leaning toward him and reaching out for the lenses. "I-I'm sorry, I thought I made your eyes o-oka-"

"I'm fine, dear," he replied, sticking the pencil in the boot that lacked a glasses case and stood, then turned to her with a smile. "The eyes are fine. I just had these when I was alive and would rather keep them."

There was a small pause between them, one still smiling at the other, after which the robot's smile dropped to a neutral position and he continued with, "...wait, you made me?"

"O-oh!" the ghost nodded rather quickly, her hands clasped together as she shifted from one foot to the next. "Y-yeah, I...I saw that your SOUL refused to accept your death so I, uh…"

"Darling, that's _incredible!_ " Mettaton exclaimed as he examined himself once more, first starting with the arms and then moving to his torso, still going down the neo-body further.

The lizard woman shifted a bit more. Her cheeks lit up like a Christmas tree and her eyes trailed down with Mettaton's, but there was a smile present. "Y-you think so?"

"Of course! Where on Earth did you get the materials for it?"

"W-well, I, uh…" Oh, there's the smile drop. Yup. No more happy face. "...I-I don't think you wanna know…"

"Oh, come on now. Of course I want to know! It can't be _that_ bad, can it?"

"W-well, I…" Alphys turned her attention back towards the ground, feet point inward. "I-I, um, f-found some parts around the Ruins…"

This made the robot's face glisten just a bit, a broad smile coming over his face once more as he clapped his hands together. "Oh my goodness! Not only did you build a fully-functioning robot, but you built one out of scraps you just found ar-!?"

Mettaton froze.

She...made him out of scrap metal lying around the Ruins.

His entire body...was composed of pieces of junk found _God_ knows where.

Oh...okay...that's...ew...

The ghost winced upon seeing what a disgusted expression her friend took on, chuckling nervously when he furthered grimaced.

"I...I-I t-told you you d-didn't want to...t-to know…" she stuttered, taking a small step back. Oh, he was going to be so upset with her now! And this was her one chance to actually talk to someone…

It would take a moment or so to regain himself, but eventually, the robot nodded, slowly, clutching his notebook tightly to his chest. "I'll...pretend I didn't hear that."

This caused the ghost to blink. "R-really? You'll...you'll just...y-you'll still talk to me?"

"But of course, darling," our protagonist continued, gradually returning to his former self. "Why wouldn't I? You gave me a body, after all. Don't you realize how thankful I am for that?"

"Oh! I-I, uh…"

"Dear." Mettaton placed a metallic finger against the dinosaur's nose, despite it simply phasing through. Right...he'll have to get used to that. "I am thankful to have you as a conversational partner. It'll at least keep me sane in this god-awful place…" (though that last sentence was more muttered than anything) "...However, unless you want me to refer to you as 'darling' and 'dear' for the rest of the time, it might be a good idea to spill your name."

"A-Alphys!" the dinosaur stuttered out, fidgeting with her shirt nervously. Oh, gee, someone was actually t-talking to her! Most people were kind of...scary, but it seemed like someone else who experienced death at least somewhat understood her, for whatever little sense that made. The most important thing was that he didn't know about...things, and he hopefully wouldn't be asking about them any time soon.

"Alphys?" Mettaton repeated with a clap of his hands. "Oh, what a _wonderful_ name! Alphys. I like it! You and I, Alphys- we're going to make it far in these Ruins!"

When he attempted to wrap an arm around her shoulders and failed, though still acted as if he had succeeded anyway, Alphys couldn't help but chuckle (and this time, it was out of joy). "You know, there's m-more down here than just the Ruins."

"Really?"

It was at that point that he turned to face her, and she could practically see the stars in his eyes. It was actually rather...endearing? Something she certainly hadn't seen in a long time, well before her untimely departure. So, her reply was with a smile. "Y-yeah. There's, um, Snowdin...and Waterfall...a-and Hotlands, w-with my lab…"

"Your lab?" Mettaton, who had just begun walking, paused, turning back to face the ghost. "Wait, are you a scientist?"

She chuckled. "Th-that's a really vague term, uh...I'm a mechanic, a-and a chemist, and-"

"So a scientist," he finished for her, to which she sighed and hurried to catch up to the robot that had once more began picking up his pace.

"Yes, a scientist…"

The two started their stroll in silence, each thinking of a good conversation topic. For Mettaton, there were simply too many questions swirling about in his head to really pick out a good one. Besides, he'd just met this ghost. She _seemed_ nice, sure, but he had only just met her, after all. This was a very new situation he had just been thrust into, and he had to pick what was said lightly.

Alphys, on the other hand, did not have the issue of too many questions. Sure, she was curious about life, the Underground...she probably _could_ pick out some topics if she liked (things such as human culture, past times, etc.), so it wasn't lack of words, either, but more of indecisiveness upon which exact ones she should use. See, Alphys...contrary to her robot friend, Alphys wasn't anywhere near as good at speaking with others, or words in general. If you needed more proof than her absent voice and the would-be clammy hands (had she been alive), just look at her stuttering.

Eventually, though, one of them did start up a conversation, and he turned back to face the scientist with a rather neutral expression. "Alphys?"

"Yeah?"

"You built this body, right? The entire thing from scratch, just you?"

Hesitantly, the woman gave a small nod, her hands rubbing together anxiously as she watched her robot companion tread across the leaves. It was somewhat... _interesting_ watching him fall through the floor with his dramatic flailing and girly screams, but she was still glad he didn't get hurt.

"Then, tell me," he continued, now making his way for the stairs, "Why did you make it a male body?"

She blinked a few times, her face changing from slight worry to mild surprise as her eyes locked onto the robot in a stare. "W-what?"

"The body. You made it from scratch, right? No mold or anything? So why a guy's?"

Alphys blinked a few more times and quickly darted her orangish-brown eyes away from him, towards the next room. "I-I'm sorry, I thought you wanted the sex your human body had...I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible so I'm sorry if there's anything really wrong with it or stuff you don't...don't like. I-I...You wouldn't come out of your b-body, so I had no way of t-talking to you-"

When he noticed that she had begun to ramble, Mettaton quickly cut the woman off, offering her a wide smile and cheerful eyes as encouragement. "It's alright, Alphys! I'm not upset. I was just curious, that's all."

The woman paused. She opened her mouth to speak, however, was quickly cut off with the person who stepped in front of her companion, at which point she would shrink back out of sight.

"Who were you talking to?"

Despite not meeting all too long ago, Mettaton turned his head at the sound of the familiar voice, to which he smiled. What his eyes were met with was the sight of the figure from earlier. It's funny how the light someone's cast in makes all the difference on how they are perceived. When the pair had first met, this person seemed like a savior the way the sun (or what served as it) fell behind them, but now, stepping out from the shadows like someone who watches you sleep at night, the robot couldn't help but take a small step back from his friend. The sharpness in their voice was not helping.

"I was just talking to Alphy-" He cut himself off when his glance back proved fruitless. All either of the two of them observed was empty air, and Chara had raised an eyebrow at him when this had been realized.

Because of this, our protagonist was then forced to turn back to Chara with a look of confusion washed over his face, mixed in with just a glint of worry. "I swear, someone had been with me this entire time. She was right here…"

"Look." This was the point where the human would step in front of the robot, just close enough to reach out their hand and touch him should they so chose. "I don't know how you know Alphys, but she disappeared a while ago. No one's seen her in a long time, and I mean a _long_ time. Out of all the places she could've vanished to, I highly doubt the Ruins would be her first priority." After all, if she had ran away to here, Chara would have seen her.

"Disappeared?"

When Mettaton leaned forward slightly for an answer, Chara had felt a small heat cross over them and their cheeks brightened a shade or two in color. They shook it off. "That's not what I came here for. I, uh, forgot to ask you something."

"Oh?" Now the robot found himself straightening his shoulders and leaning back slightly out of curiosity. "Go on."

"What kinda chocolate do you like? Milk or dark?"

The robot blinked for a few moments, his magenta eyes widening as he cocked his head to the side. So they just wanted to know his preference on something? That was surprisingly...casual. "Chocolate? ...Do you have any white?"

"White chocolate?" This was the part where Chara lowered their head so that their bangs overshadowed their eyes. If Mettaton hadn't known otherwise (and he really didn't), he could've sworn that those eyes had shimmered a bright, demonic red, but Chara was human, and even down here, that seemed near impossible.

"Yes, white chocolate…" Was something wrong with that? His response was somewhat hesitant, and for good reason. He took a small step back from the human, who appeared to be frozen in place with...he wasn't sure what.

"White chocolate is not chocolate."

Chara's voice seemed rigid, heavy even. It would almost be enough to scare the robot away...had his favorite dessert not just been insulted. No, instead, his sassiness kicked in full swing, hand being pressed against his metal hip and leg jutting out to stable himself.

"Says who?"

Without moving, the living human continued on, their voice staying disturbingly even throughout dialogue. "White chocolate is made from milk, sugar, flavoring ingredients, and a by-product of the cocoa bean known as cocoa butter. It uses no actual cocoa bean solid, and therefore is not actual chocolate. I will repeat my question: milk or dark chocolate?"

At this point, our protagonist would whip his head to the side to readjust his bangs before running a metal hand through them. Any normal human would most likely back down at this point, but this was Mettaton. He wasn't going down without a fight, and if he did end up falling...hopefully Alphys added a self-destruct button.

"It doesn't matter what it's technically defined as. We're not living in a lab-" He paused for a moment, taking a quick glance around to see if Alphys had reformed- she had not- and continued. "-so what chocolate is "technically" defined as isn't important. It's called white _chocolate_ for a reason and it should count as such! If you're not going to offer that as an option, then I choose _none._ "

It felt like ages that the room was silent. Mettaton's SOUL quivered, but his body remained firm and determined. He would _not_ take an insult lying down! Even if that insult was only to one of his most favorite foods...

Eventually, without looking up at the robot, Chara turned, their shoulders still held high and back straightened. There was a way that they stepped, though...slowly, carefully, that gave Mettaton the impression something was off. He could figure out that much already, but it was different now… It almost held the appearance that Chara had been defeated.

"Wait, darling, where are you going?"

He watched as they walked off without another word, continuing across a bridge that, once they stepped off on the other side, glinted from the spikes that had shot up behind them. Great...another puzzle. That should be fun.

"Alphys?" Mettaton called out, looking around for the one person down here he had yet to piss off. Maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky, the ghost could help him get over all of these stupid puzzles. There was always the option of taking notes, of course. Analyzing something and strategizing about it was always a great method of action, and it would allow Chara sometime away from him which, unfortunately, seemed to be necessary. Perhaps he should just do this on his own...

"Alphys?" Mettaton cried out into the dimly lit room, slowly pacing over to a grey rock to examine it. Hm...funny. He could have sworn that was on top of the button a few minutes ago…

" _Th-three out of four rocks recommend you push them."_

* * *

 **More comments to answer, because this is FanFiction and I have no way to answer them publicly .-.**

 **illuminatemmie:** Uh, just out of curiosity, what do you mean by "something like this"?

Yeah not many comments to answer, haha...but that's mostly because there's only seven reviews (one of which just says "More"...). Still, seven reviews for two chapters is pretty awesome!

Also, uh, there's a "master" list of UnderTale AUs on DeviantArt that mine just got added to, and I feel pretty happy about that.

journal/A-Guide-to-Undertale-AUs-582035769

Here, I really hope this link works. Stupid Fanfiction censor doesn't let me put the whole link, so just put that at the end of the DeviantArt URL or search for farsidejr. It should be one of their journal posts.

I think there's a master link on Tumblr, too, but I don't have much experience with tumblr and don't really know how to get on it...if some of you could help get this on official lists that would be awesome, haha!


	4. Here Comes Toriel?

"...What is _that_?"

The robot frowned, reaching the point of his boot out gently to grace the figure, upon which he felt it sink inward slightly and quickly retracted it. In front of him was what looked like a large, whitish-tan marshmallow. Its outline was the shape of your typical ghost, and were it not for the fact that he could see through them in some areas, Mettaton would have assumed that it was just a little kid in a trick-or-treat costume. Two small, same-colored horns protruded from the top of its head, and besides its eyes (which were firmly shut), there wasn't much else in the way of design. He noticed a faint insignia across its...chest? The pattern looked like a shield, almost, a circle hovering near the top (were those wings?) with three triangles below it, but otherwise, the spirit seemed blank.

"Um…" Alphys leaned inward a small bit in order to get a better look at the creature. Is that…? No, it couldn't be…

 _*Th-this ghost is fast asleep on the pile of leaves. Move it with force…?_

"Force?" Mettaton repeated, bringing up the point of one boot to gently prod at the ghost's side. "Is that even possible?"

"Of course! Well, uh, n-not with me, but with a lot of ghosts, yeah."

"Hmm…" He examined her further, observing that her "chest" did not rise and fall, that her eyes looked as if they were being forced shut unnaturally. In one swift motion, Mettaton brought his foot back high in the air and then released it down, letting the kinetic energy from gravity increase his power as the point in the front of his boot dug into...whatever the thing was made of. Its eyes shot open, and the pair could then notice those same red ovals dart around hastily as their owner regained consciousness.

 _*Here comes...Toriel?_

Alphys couldn't believe it. Was that really the former queen? She narrowed her gaze, but still remain frozen in disbelief. This whole time, when no one knew what happened to Toriel...this is where she went? It...it wasn't…

Mettaton blinked as his heart once more flew out of his chest, and again did he let it hover over the 'Check' option while taking in the ghost's appearance. Toriel? That's a weird name. Though, maybe he should pay more attention to the fact that she actually felt him kick her and now she was gasping for air, as if he'd kicked her in an actual physical side and was in staggering pain. The ghost sat straight up, her gaze settling upon the pair with no less than a look of sheer terror that, of course, disappeared quite quickly when it caught them.

"I can't believe it!" the lady cried, now floating into an upright position. Her red eyes glowed, sparkled, crackled, and the robot could have sworn he felt heat emitting from them, though he was pretty sure ghosts couldn't do _that_. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you manners!?"

"I…" He quickly stole a glance at his companion, heart still on the 'Check' option, though was only able to receive a shrug in response.

 _*Uh...T-Toriel - Attack 10, Defense 10_

Alphys stumbled a bit as she moved away from the specter. Her hands wrapped around each other almost immediately, rubbing up against each other while her mind played through the various options of dialogue.

 _*Her humor is, um…_

"What's wrong?" Toriel asked, a very small grin etching its way onto her face.

Mettaton lept back another three feet or so as her eyes became consumed in flames. His own widened, hand moving to his mouth to gasp. "Excuse me…!"

"You look like you've seen a ghost!"

With this, several balls of fire came soaring at the robot, in turn causing Alphys to let out a quick, half-second scream and shield her eyes. Oh, that metal wasn't supposed to be heated… This can't be good…

Fortunately for her, all but one of them had been dodged thanks to Mettaton's skillful dance moves (see? He knew tagging along to his cousin's lessons was a good idea!), the one that did make contact only brushing against the outer layer of his cheek. He winced and reflexively began to drop to the floor, however, stopped after catching himself. Oh, no. He wasn't going down without a fight. If he could stand up to Chara, he could stand up to this lady.

His eyes darted down to the buttons sprawled out before him and reached an arm out to the side so that his heart would follow suite. There was only one other option left under the ACT menu, that being Talk, so he allowed the purple shape to rest there before turning back toward the woman.

"Toriel?"

When he noticed her attention snap to him (as opposed to the fire that had fallen behind), he nodded once, registering the name into his memory bank.

"Toriel, I wasn't expecting you to feel that. Truly sorry, darlin-"

"TORIEL CALM DOWN!"

Mettaton's head swiveled to face the source of the interruption. His traveling partner was now holding her hands out to the opposing ghost, it seemed, eyes bulging and body leaning towards Toriel. Alphys's eyes danced between the two before quickly covering her face again. The robot could have sworn she was shaking, on top of it…

"Alphys?"

At the sound of the queen's voice, Alphys took yet another step back, shaking her head. "I-I'm just going to, um...I'll leave…"

Mettaton watched, seemingly no more confused than Toriel, as the dinosaur lady began to vanish out of sight. When she had completely faded, Mettaton reached out a hand, but felt nothing, and turned back to the still-visible specter.

The specter, however, squinted for another reason. The fire in her eyes died down quite drastically as her attention focused on who she knew as the Royal Scientist to just...stand there. She, too, moved her head in order to lock eyes with the still physical one of the three. Right. Tori, you're still the queen. You still need to be proper.

"I, too, apologize for my hastiness," she said, floating a few inches toward Mettaton and biting back a yawn. "Though it is quite rude to wake someone up by _kicking them in the side._ "

Without even noticing his heart slip back into his chest, Mettaton frowned, placing both hands on his hips and swishing them out to the side. "I did already say I was sorry for that." He retracted one of those hands, however, and let it dangle loosely instead while he turned to face the spot his companion had been in only moments before. "Now where the heck did Alphys go?"

"Alphys?" Toriel repeated. This time, she turned back to the scientist with a rather blank expression. "She's right there."

"What?"

Alphys, who still remained in the same spot up until this point, took a small step back, her eyes trained on the former queen. "Y-you...you can see me?"

"Of course I can see you. Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, I-I, um…" Another step back, and her attention turned to the ground. "I should go…"

"Alphys, wait."

Mettaton looked between Toriel and the spot that she seem fixated upon. Was Alphys there? He couldn't see her, he couldn't hear her, but...oh, Toriel's a ghost, right? So then maybe it was a ghost thing, being able to see other ghosts when living people (or robots?) can't. He made a mental note to mark that down when he got a chance.

"Uh...yes?"

The queen would lean forward slightly, allowing her to closer inspect the other ghost. "Are you trying to be invisible?"

Alphys didn't look up for her response. In fact, she didn't offer one. When words attempted to come out, they stuck in her mouth and just jumbled into a stuttering, incoherent mess. Another few moments passed as she slowly backed away, desperately attempting to hide her face. Eventually the woman turned to sprint down the hall and didn't bother to stop when she heard the former queen calling for her.

Toriel stared along the path that she had went for some time before blinking, muttering as she refocused on the robot beside her, "Well that was odd…"

"If I may," Mettaton cut in when he realized her attention was centered on him, "What was that about?"

Tori shook her head. "Oh, I don't know...I assume she was trying to turn invisible, but only a ghost can do that to my knowledge."

The robot, in turn, would blink, his hands falling behind his back as he cradled his notebook against it. "But...she is a ghost."

"She is?"

Judging from the widened eyes and expressionless mouth, Mettaton assumed it was safe to say the woman had no knowledge of this. He lightly tapped his foot against the ground, taking a quick glance over at the pathways ahead of him and nodding. "At least, that's what she told me. I couldn't see her. I assumed when she vanished that _something_ had happened."

"Oh, I…" Toriel frowned. Her gaze meandered toward the floor beneath her for a moment before fixing onto the robot. "If it's no trouble, would you mind telling me how she died?"

To this, Mettaton tilted his head. How she died? "She didn't mention that part."

"Oh, I see…"

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, a tension hanging above them, but only for a moment. Neither of the two had a difficult time interacting with others, and they were both quick to realize what hung over them, and just as quick to break it.

"May I ask who you are?" Tori asked, just as Mettaton opened his mouth to speak.

Instead of starting a conversation, he smiled rather quickly. "Meckenzie," the robot replied while running a hand through his hair proudly. He froze, however, eyes shooting open at the memory of the living human who had saved him from that weird fish thing giving him a new, less male name. Honestly, he much preferred the one Chara gave him over his old name any day, which led him to correct himself. "I mean, Mettaton! Mettaton."

"Mettaton?" The ghost seemed to be examining him now, letting her eyes take in his robotic form. "So you're a...robot?"

"No." He paused. "...Well, yes. But I wasn't before."

This was the point where the lady would squint in confusion, those same red eyes dulling slightly as they wandered to his glowing heart. "Before?"

"Before falling down… _Apparently_ I died." This was accompanied by a loud, over-the-top sigh and Mettaton glanced behind him. He made his way over toward the nearby wall, which his back then slid down before feeling his rump hit the soft bed of leaves. "I used to be a human. Alphys had mentioned something about making me a body because I wouldn't come out of mine, or...something along those lines."

"I see." The ghost frowned. Wouldn't come out of the body? That's...awful. Mettaton must have been so attached to life… Slowly, Toriel floated over to where the robot was seated and lowered herself so that her incorporeal form was just barely gracing the top leaf. "Then, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, how did you die?"

"I fell down a hole," Mettaton replied, his head turning back in the direction he had come from.

Toriel nodded once, her eyes following the direction that Mettaton's seemed to be pointing to. A hole? But that way… "Do you mean you came from the surface?"

"Uh…" The former human made an attempt to bite his bottom lip, however froze upon feeling the metal that served as such hold firm. It was rather dissatisfying. "Yes, I did, and ever since I fell down here, everything's been so strange! I'm a robot, there's a fish that tried to kill me, and then I'm saved by this awfully kind person named Chara, but next thing I know there's a ghost of a dinosaur following me around and-"

He cut himself off, allowing a small sigh to escape as his attention trailed down to the leaf patterns scattered on the floor below him. Why was he telling all of this to some random ghost he had just kicked in the side a few moments ago? There was honestly something about her he couldn't quite describe...something that just screamed, " _Tell me your woes! I shall provide all the motherly comfort in the world!"_ Mettaton really hadn't had a chance to escape the oddness that ensued since falling down that hole, but at least he felt safe enough to alleviate the pain a little by talking. After all, she was a ghost, so she had to know how it felt to die. Out of everything to happen to him, that's by far been the worst, not to mention the very first.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" Because, honestly, it wouldn't be surprising. Isn't that how a lot of dreams start? Falling somewhere or dying but not remembering it? Something like that. A talking fish pretty much screamed symbolism.

"I cannot prove to you that this is part of your real life," the former queen replied with a small sigh while shaking her head, "but I can share with you my experiences if that's what you wish. All I ask is that you take my advice."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Advice was usually a good thing, and Mettaton really couldn't shake the motherly feeling that this dead woman was emanating.

Slowly, the woman swiveled her head towards the robotic human, a warm yet serious look projecting off of her while her eyes radiated a hidden sorrow. It reminded the protagonist of his favorite cousin, almost, and made an urge to reach out his arms and hug her creep over him. Though, that would be too strange…

"Mettaton, if that really is a human SOUL you have inside you, you cannot exit the Ruins. I understand how much you want to go home, but that would require moving beyond this area, and there are monsters out there…" She shook her head. "Chara will offer you a place to stay. I'm sure of it. They're a nice wo- person, and they'll be more than willing to get you situated down here. The residents of the Ruins are very nice monsters, if not a little shaken at times. They'll welcome you with open arms, no doubts. Just be kind to them."

Toriel finished her speech with a small smile, gaze returning once more to the metal human. He, however, looked more curious than anything, if not, a small bit confused.

"So...what happens if I leave?"

The smile faded. It was quickly replaced with a cringe and Toriel swung her head away. "I...have to do something."

"Wait, but you didn't answer my-"

He was too late. By the time Mettaton reached his hand out to grab what served as a shoulder, the ghost was already gone, and it seemed that all he could do was shake his head.

* * *

 **I'm sorry this is late and kind of crappy...** Toriel is difficult to write for whatever reason.

 **Also, EquationTale has an official blog!**...I seriously hate Fanfiction's anti-spam stuff since there's no place to post updates and such...but go look for EquationTale on Tumblr. That is the URL, and, as of currently, the title is 'Trapped in the Ruins'. I, uh...I'm going to be changing that each time Mettaton makes it to a new area, or at least trying to ^^' Asks are open! _However_ , I need to finish some requests and art trades, so until those are done, it'll be text answers only. Chara will be answering the questions unless you specifically ask for someone else (and keep in mind, Chara has to be able to reach them).

Also, uh, **_IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO USE TUMBLR_**...please help me. I have little to no idea what I'm doing, heh...


	5. Welcum 2 temmie bakesale!

"Temmie Bake Sale?"

Mettaton tilted his head, his magenta eyes trailing over to where his companion's own were gazing, legs pausing in their walk.

Alphys nodded. "I-it says it's made by temmies, for temmies, of temmies-"

"Wait." Now those legs were briskly returning to where the sign stood so that he, too, could get a look at this slogan. "They make their food out of their own kind?"

Alphys then blinked. Oh, he...kind of just cut her off… "...flakes."

"Flakes?" This was the point at which the robot would furrow his brows in confusion.

"Temmie flakes," she replied with a small smile. "They're, um...here, I-I'll show you."

Mettaton shook his head, spinning around on his heel to return on their path. Come on, now! He barely had any gold as it was. You honestly think he was going to go to bakesale for some stupid...what were they called? Temmies? "Alphys, dear, we have much more important things to worry about than whatever strange foods the monsters are selling."

"B-but, um," Alphys took a glance over at the nearby froggit, as if it would give her some sort of aid in continuing the conversation, "they're actually really cute, and um…"

Mettaton, of course, would wait patiently, watching as his companion buzzed her eyes around the room and rubbed her feet against one another. He sighed and unweaved his arms from across his chest. "You really want to see them, don't you?"

"Well, uh... " She still didn't make eye contact, however, and when it was noted that those orangish-brown eyes moved upward towards the ceiling, the robot shook his head.

"Fine, fine. We can go, but don't take too long."

The woman practically radiated with cheerfulness, a wide smile brimming what was usually her shy, nervous wreck of an expression. She nodded happily, clasping her hands together and (almost) skipping south, straight towards a wall.

"Alphys?"

Just as Mettaton reached his hand out with a small gasp, he watched her figure disappear through the purple bricks. Oh, right. Ghosts can do that, apparently. Gotta mark that down when he gets a chance.

"Alphys, I don't think I can…" He paused, approaching the wall and gracing his hand against the cold, muddy structure. Its material felt cold and damp. "I don't think I can phase through there…"

It didn't matter how long he waited, though. The robot stood there for at least a minute before sighing, turning his head once more to the sign by the froggit. Where did it say the bake sale was? Down and to the left...something like that. So, with a deep breath in, the metallic human would pick up his pace. Right, just gotta be quick. It shouldn't take too long, right? It was only a bake sale.

What he was met with, however, was far from what he had been expecting.

To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what it was his mind had assumed would be waiting for him, but whatever it was, it sure as heck wasn't _this_. A cardboard stand immediately caught his attention, several barely-readable words scribbled out in yellow and blue crayon along the box (at least, Mettaton assumed that what indeed stood before him was nothing more than a crudely-decorated cardboard box). One of the strands of whatever passed as words that could be made out said something along the lines of "tEM bake sell - Al proseeds go 2 REEL tems!"

Behind the counter stood three white-furred cat-dog _things_ with smooth, black hair that made them almost seem human. They each bore a blue shirt, as well as a matching collar with the word "Temmie" engraved in it. Lying on top of the stand were several colorful boxes that looked like a five-year-old had scribbled along the outside with whatever color marker had happened to be nearby. The top one was open, and he could very visibly see several equally-colorful circular objects inside of it, each of which almost reminded him of a doughnut. There was also an iced tea gallon beside it, however it was filled to the brim with shredded pieces of construction paper.

Alphys stood off to the side, hands clasped together while her attention was absorbed by the tems that seemed to be too busy playing with each other to really notice.

"Excuse me," Mettaton cut in, to which each one's head perked up and their eyes practically sparkled. All at once, they let out a very cheerful, "CUSTUMER!" and scrambled for their spots.

"hOI!" the first one exclaimed, starting on the right while she stared up at the protagonist. "Welcum 2 temmie bakesale!"

"We haz lots of guuds," the middle one continued as her eyes danced between the poorly-shaped doughnuts and the galloon of paper. "Iz sure 2 make smile, ya ya! 2 HP in evry bite!"

To this, the third one would finish while jumping onto the table with her front paws, "is made BY temmie, FOR temmie, OF temmie! ...flakes."

"Right…" Mettaton glanced at the goods for a moment before looking over at Alphys. "Are you ready to go now?"

When the three tems realized where his gaze was heading, they all turned their attention in that direction as well, causing the ghost to blink and her eyes to widen. "Oh! I-I, um…" Oh, th-they saw her now, um… "I-I'm just going to, uh…"

Mettaton groaned. "Alphys, darling, you can't keep disappearing whenever someone sees you."

It was too late, however, and he followed this up with a sigh at seeing her outline vanish. Oh, wonderful. Now he'd have to deal with these weird monsters all by himself.

"Alphys, I swear, some day…"

"IZ ONLY 7 GOLD!"

The first one slammed her paws against the table, very much so like her sister. From this new position, Mettaton could notice her tail wagging quite rapidly, like she might take off with it as her propeller. The temmie's tongue hung limply from her mouth, a small amount of drool dripping off of it. Ew...and they work with food.

Mettaton reached his hand into the boot without his glasses case and pulled out a very small sack of gold coins. Seven gold...and he only had nine. Really, he should have at least _attempted_ to grab the money off of his decaying corpse back near the start of the game. "I'm really sorry darlings, but seven gold for some origami doughnut just seems a bit-"

"-cheep?" the middle one finished, nodding her head. "We no, but we gotta make muns somehow an Ruins munsders don't have lot of muns."

"Pweeaaaaase?" the two on the outside chirped, their eyes sparkling to a degree that made Mettaton sigh.

"Alright, alright, fine. _One_ doughnut."

"You meen temnut!"

The robot rolled his eyes as he dumped the sack of money on the table, quickly stuffing two leftover pieces in his bag and shoving it back into his boot. Well, at least the boot didn't look so lumpy now… "Yeah, whatever."

When he saw one of the tems reaching for a doughnut with her mouth, he quickly cut in and grabbed one. "That's alright! I got it."

"Tank you, mrs. robot!"

"Dats not mrs.!" the third one yelled at the first, head swiveling around to face her sister. "Dats mr! Robot!"

The middle one could only sigh and do her best to ignore the other two as she locked eyes with the metallic human. "Tank you, valued custumer."

"Yes, yes, you're welcome. Now, Alphys?"

Mettaton glanced back over to where he had last seen his companion while placing one hand over his hip and tapping his foot once or twice. When not even an outline appeared, he rolled his eyes, spinning around on his heel and speed walking in the opposite direction. "Fine, whatever. I'll be on my way then."

It stayed that way, too, as he walked along the hall that Toriel had been sleeping beside several minutes before. The protagonist took a quick glance over at the pile of red leaves, allowing his eyes to linger there for a moment or so, and then swiftly continued onward. No, he had to keep going. There was too much lying ahead of him (hopefully plenty of answers) to stop now. That woman...that ghost woman might be mysterious, but perhaps he could meet up with her again sometime. Or maybe Alphys would know. Perhaps Chara? Out of everyone so far, he trusted Chara the most. Not only did they _save_ him from a talking demon fish, but they also weren't _dead_ , nor were they a monster. Toriel said Chara was nice, so she must have some connection to them. That's a good thing to keep in mind. He made a mental note.

Unfortunately, physical notes weren't quite possible at the moment. He really didn't feel the need to consume the construction paper treat, nor did he wish to set it down. There was a voice nagging at the back of his mind to hold onto it, and though it was just a voice, it was there for a reason. You better believe he wasn't going to leave his notebook behind, torn as it may be, so unless Alphys had installed some extra limbs he was unaware of (and which he'd be very greatful for), Mettaton, unfortunately, didn't have much room for more items. He used one arm to squeeze the notebook against his chest, tilting it at an angle so that it would trap the doughnut between himself and his book, however it was still a bigger load than he'd prefer.

When he had made a turn right, Mettaton was slightly surprised by the dinosaur figure that was waiting for him in the corner. It was a corner behind each of the three frogs, just within an arm's reach of the sign. He hadn't honestly noticed her at first, and so a small jump was completely understandable when she had whispered, "Psst...over here."

There was in fact a small jump, accompanied by a gasp, however Mettaton quickly recovered and turned towards the source of the sound. "Alphys? What on Earth are you-?"

"SHHH!"

She was shaking, he noted after observing the ghost for a few moments. It was very violent shaking, too. What on Earth had her so frightened? When she reached a hand out to wave him over, he followed, though not without being lost in his thoughts. Was there something here he couldn't see? Was it those frogs?

"Alphys, is there a reason why-?"

"SHH!"

Her eyes darted quickly over to the three froggits along the side of the road and she let out a small whimper before turning back to Mettaton while whispering, "We're not safe here."

"What?"

"W-we're not s-safe here…Don't you hear them?"

"Hear them? Hear what?" Now this was catching his intrigue. Meckenzie had always had a very curious mind, which was likely the main reason he had fallen down in the first place. Curiosity and his cousins.

Alphys trembled even more so now than she did when Mettaton had first returned to this room. Those same orangish-brown eyes from earlier were widening dramatically and the ghost let out a small gasp. "W-we have to kill them!"

"Kill them?" This Mettaton would blink at, leaning away slightly. "Kill who? The frogs?"

"We have to kill them!" she exclaimed before backing further into the corner. If Mettaton hadn't known any better (as already proven, he really hadn't), he would've thought that Alphys was hyperventilating, but ghosts can't- ...y'know, from all the weird things that have been going on, he decided against assuming that.

"Alphys, calm down." Mettaton reached out his only free arm while still trying to balance the doughnut between his chest and his notebook, however the ghost jumped away from it and began to become transparent again.

The protagonist sighed when he noticed this. "Fine. If you won't let me help or tell me what's going on, then I'm going ahead." Honestly, what was there to be afraid of? Those frogs looked just about as menacing as the bricks in the walls, and _he_ certainly didn't hear anything. Come on, now. If Mettaton couldn't hear it, who could? It's not like he wasn't dead already. Sure, he might have a body now, but he was still dead, so he should be able to hear it, too! Obviously, Alphys was just crazy. Maybe he should have gone with Toriel instead…

"Ribbit, ribbit."

The protagonist's attention had been caught, however, when he heard a strange sound just as he passed the third frog. He jumped slightly, mind still having been focused on Alphys's words up until that point.

"You're Mettaton, aren't you?"

Mettaton nodded, taking a quick gasp of air and a glance down at his chest. Alright, the food was still intact, so that's good.

"Chara said they had a present for you."

This made the robot blink. A present? For him? He tilted his head to the side, leaning forward ever-so-slightly. "Oh?"

The frog nodded, reaching behind him to pull out a lavender-colored bag. Across it was the same insignia that Mettaton recognized as the one printed on Toriel's chest. Our protagonist gingerly reached his hand out to grasp said item and tore it open, sticking his nose in. "There's nothing inside."

"The bag, Mettaton. The bag is your gift. They said that there are plenty of items around the Ruins, and your hands are already full as it is with your notebook. They told me to tell you that it's not much, but it's what they had on them at the time and that they meant to give it to you when they asked about the chocolate." Whatever that means. The froggit hadn't been in any mind to prod.

"Oh, well…" He set his notebook down on the floor with the doughnut on top of it before sliding the straps around his shoulders and taking a glance behind him. Just like a backpack. Huh. "...tell them I said thank you."

The froggit chuckled. "Chara already left. I think-" He cleared his throat. "-I believe they said something about only carrying so much in that bag, so not to pick up anything you don't need."

"Right." Well, of course. Mettaton may not like throwing things away, but that was only because the things that he had were the best things, of course! He was very picky with what was his. It shouldn't be too hard to keep the bag under its carrying capacity.

He squished his origami doughnut into his new sack before slinging it over his back once more. Ug, the colors really didn't match...but they weren't atrocious, either. Perhaps if he found a necklace or something…

"One more thing," the froggit added as Mettaton reached into both boots, pulling out his glasses case and the small sack of gold.

The protagonist paused briefly to look at him, signaling he held his attention.

"I heard that you were quite merciful for a human."

He then stuffed the two items into his new bag, finishing by lacing his other arm through the string and bumping it on with a quick nod.

"Then surely you know by now that a monster wears a yellow name tag when you can SPARE them."

"Yellow?" Well that's a rather hidious color, but oh well. No, he hadn't actually noticed, but that was definitely something he was going to mark down in his notebook when he found enough light source to see the pages.

The froggit nodded. "Indeed. We each have a yellow name tag to show that we do not want to fight any longer. What do you think of that?"

"Uck, _yellow?_ " Mettaton's hand then moved to his hip, his voice laced with disgust in each syllable. "It's disgusting. Who'd want to wear _yellow_?"

"I see…" The frog monster frowned, his eyes narrowing at the floor. "...well, what about pink?"

Mettaton blinked. His smile slowly peeked its way back onto his face and he nodded. "Yes, pink is an excellent color! Pink will do just fine."

"Alright, then. Pink it is. I think everyone still has their name tags from last year, so I'll see what I can do."

The protagonist chuckled a bit, bringing his free hand up to his mouth, which was now holding a much broader smile than before. His notebook in hand, he spun around, ready to make his way for the door before the froggit cleared its throat.

"Remember, we wear those name tags when we're willing to be spared."

"I realize," Mettaton replied without looking back. He opened his mouth to continue, but found himself being caught off.

"Sparing is just saying you won't fight. Maybe, one day, you'll have to do it even if they're name isn't pink."

* * *

 **Sorry for the shitty chapter.** I need more inspiration, honestly.

 **Also, I love replying to reviews!** It's weird. After chapter two or three there started being less and less...is it because I answer them? Because I really like replying to you guys and knowing your ideas! It's fun talking with people who enjoy your stuff!

 **I'm going to start posting pictures on the EquationTale tumblr soon.** Already working on a picture of Chara. If you want to follow that, either watch my DeviantArt, KuraiTsukiMajutsu, or, the more preferable option, follow the EquationTale tumblr. ...just google EquationTale Tumblr. I checked this morning. There's only one. It's, uh...it's not the most exciting Tumblr out there... I'm still trying to figure out how the site works, so...sorry.


	6. Do You Smell That?

**For the best experience, I recommend listening to Home from the UnderTale OST and the music box version of Fallen Down by MerryBerryMusic while reading this chapter.**

* * *

When Mettaton entered the room, the first thing his eyes caught a hold of was a large, black tree, its limbs branching out above it like a hand trying to grasp for something just out of reach. Surrounding the base of the tree were what he presumed to be its fallen leaves, a crisp red to match the rest of the ones he'd stumbled upon on his way here. He held his gaze there for a moment or so to take in the detail of what stood in the center of his path. This was different than just some measly leaves. For the first time, he found the plant life from which they had strayed. In fact, with further thought, this was the only tree Mettaton had seen period within the Ruins. Could all of those leaves had really fallen from a single tree? Where was the wind that carried them? They seemed like pointless questions but his mind couldn't help but wonder…

His focus was redirected when our protagonist heard a voice from around the black trunk. It sounded somewhat familiar and urged him to hurry forward.

"He sure is taking a while," the voice mumbled. Mettaton peered out around the tree and smiled when he caught sight of a figure just about his height with a long green robe and a single yellow stripe, the owner of which let out a small sigh. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten upset…"

They reached inside their robe's pockets and pulled out a small candy bar, unwrapped the goods and popped it in their mouth before taking a quick glance over at the doorway. The robot reflexively ducked behind the bark and out of sight, though not without reasoning to himself why. He wasn't irrational, after all. This wasn't like at home. He didn't have to hide when someone looked at him.

"Maybe I should go back and check…"

Though, when the protagonist lept into sight, Chara's eyes widened. They jumped backward while taking a large gulp of air, thus breathing in a small piece of the chocolate and coughing once or twice in surprise.

"Sorry, darling. I couldn't help but overhear that you missed me."

It would take another minute or so, but eventually the living teen regained themself, and they looked back at Mettaton with an expression of annoyance. "You can't just leap out in front of me like that! And I told you not to call me dar-" They froze. It might have been a bit funny had Mettaton known what was going off inside Chara's head, but he didn't, so he could only watch in confusion as the human's face took on a more fearful tone. It was quite evident that they weren't going to wholly express this, but there was still that slight glint of paranoia in their neutrally-shocked look. "...how long were you standing there?"

"Me? Well, I just arrived."

"Okay. Yeah. But how much did you hear?"

Mettaton blinked. "Just that you feel a bit guilty for what happened earlier. And don't worry, Chara. I accept your apology."

"I didn't-" They shook their head. "Okay, but you didn't hear me say anything about…?"

Judging by the blank look they were receiving, Chara assumed that what they'd rather not repeat in front of the robot had infact not been heard. This was followed by a very small breath of relief, to which they placed a hand over their chest. "Never mind. ...Are you okay? You look a bit scuffed up."

The robot took a quick glance down at his arms, which held a few cuts, as well as some scorch marks. If those were the results of some fire passing him, he wasn't sure he wanted to see the burn his cheek had obtained. "I guess I could be better…"

"Who did this to you?" Chara reached their hand out to grab a hold of Mettaton's arm, bringing it up closer to their face to examine it. "I'm sure they didn't mean it. We can talk to them later. For now, lemme show you my house."

They then turned, eyes focused on a structure just a few yards ahead of them that reminded the purple SOUL of a small, dark castle from the Medieval era. Little windows, composed of bricks...very much built for defensive purposes. Medieval ages weren't exactly his favorite time period to study, but he did remember a little bit about them. There were more leaves piled around the front, directly underneath the two small windows that could be seen. He couldn't remember if plants were something common to medieval castles.

"You live here?" the robot asked, his eyes scanning over the scene with intense curiosity while noting several things about the place, especially another shimmering rock off to the left that he could probably jot some things down under.

Chara simply nodded as they led him past the rock, the leaves, the windows, and through the door, into a quieter, more peaceful atmosphere than the decrepit Ruins that lie behind them. The home looked relatively normal, with wooden floors, creamish-beige walls, a stairwell just opposite the door that Mettaton could only assume lead to the basement. Two hallways branched out on either side of them, and this room in particular seemed rather bare. Honestly, it wasn't what Mettaton would describe as his dream house, but it was definitely giving off the "Home" vibe.

"About that "discussion" from earlier," Chara said as they turned around, leaning back against the railing and watching Mettaton observe the room.

"The chocolate?" He tilted his head, eyes centering back on the person in front of him. "Yes, what about it?"

They took a quick glance down the hall to the left (or, rather, their right), specifically toward the kitchen area, though it was still out of sight from this angle. "I asked for a reason. While you were taking forever to get here, I decided to make a cake. Y'know. Celebrate your arrival."

Really? Chara had made a cake, just for him? Mettaton's face brightened with delight as the image of such a thing popped inside his head. "Oh, thank you, darling! That's so nice of you."

This was in turn answered with a small chuckle and a nod. "Yeah. I want you to have a good time. So I'll hold off on the snail pie for tonight."

When that face turned from one of excitement to disgust, Chara's chuckle grew into a laugh and they placed both hands on their knees to steady themself. "Relax! It's a joke. I only make those for Mom, even though she can't eat them now." Something about ghost food… Chara wasn't sure how to make that.

"Why would she ever _want_ to?" Snail pie? That just sounded disgusting.

The human shrugged. "Heck if I know. Probably a goat thing."

"Goat thing?"

This was then met with a shake of the head. "I wanna show you something." They leaned back onto their feet and headed off for the hall opposite of where they had been looking before, a slightly confused robot following in tow. However, that didn't last long. The house's owner seemed to stop shortly after entering the hall, now standing in front of a door beside a few plants and a wall lamp. There was also a mirror off to the side, which Mettaton made sure to check later. He hadn't gotten a chance to see himself in his new body yet, after all. It was practically killing him!

"Eh… What exactly is this?" Mettaton asked with a raised eyebrow. It just looked like a door. Chara was quite obviously referring to what was behind the door, but he'd still like to be prepared. You can't just show Mettaton a door and say, 'Surprise! Hope you like it!'

"It's your room," they replied before giving him a rather powerful pat on the back, one or two strong enough to actually make him stumble forward (not to mention the fact that the Chara's blush had returned as they spoke). "A room all your own. It's getting late. You'll be wanting a place to stay. You can stay here as long as you want…" Hopefully a while… Maybe they could be roommates, or even more...friends? Closer? It would be nice for Chara to finally have a family again…

"I guess I could use a little sleep." Mettaton honestly wasn't sure this body even needed it. Wasn't there a plug or something? All those scifi movies he watched always showed the robots having to recharge for their sleep. Maybe Alphys found a way around that...he could hope.

Chara turned to face him, a warm, longing look in their eyes that both allowed their friend to relax a little with the atmosphere and put him slightly on edge. It was certainly not something our protagonist had been expecting, but surely there was no harm meant by it. He was about to reach for the handle, but then paused, instead poking his nose a little bit in the air. "...Do you smell that?"

"Smell wha-?"

It was but a second later that Chara froze. A smokey feeling entered their nose and their eyes widened, attention shooting over in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll be back." Though they hurried off rather hastily, leaving Mettaton alone before he could even ask what was wrong.

With a small sigh, the robot shook his head, watching his friend hurry off to presumably take care of the burning smell. He might be a bit lost with what all was going on (maybe this _was_ all a dream), but it was certainly nice here. Chara even had a room prepared for him! Maybe he could stay here for a while. He'd need to redecorate, that went without saying, but it was at least a start.

Inside said room wasn't much different from the rest of the home's theme. There was a single bed off to the far right wall, just beside a closet, a lamp, a couple dusty stuffed animals… A drawing of a flower hung along the farthest wall. It seemed to be drawn by an eight-year-old, which, surprisingly, fit well with the rest of the room. Underneath such a picture was some small chest. Upon closer inspection, a plastic padlock held the lid shut. He wasn't sure if that was for play or honestly supposed to be kept secret, but whichever it was, it didn't seem like there'd be too much of an issue getting it open. Everything was laced in a warm, welcoming, burgundy color.

Beside the chest and the flower was a desk. Now, the desk was fairly cluttered with random crap, however, what grabbed Mettaton's eye was the photo frame that lied on top of it. He carefully stepped toward the frame, reaching an arm out to gently grab hold of it and graced his fingers along the dusty edges. He didn't seem to recognize who was inside… Some monster family, quite obviously, considering they looked like three furry humans with horns and-

Goats. They looked like goats.

There was a father (and quite obviously the father), equipped with a long purple robe and beard. Beside him, the mother stood. She wore a dress with an insignia on it similar to that of the one on Toriel. Her hand was extended out toward her son, a small, literal kid in front of the two of them. Each held a crown on top of their heads, the mother and father bearing a golden one with several jewels while the child had on a flower crown and a playful smile.

When Chara said something about snails being a "goat thing," could they have meant…?

He shook his head, setting the picture down for now and glancing over at the bed. Chara was right. He didn't know what time of day it was, but it felt late. His body was actually starting to get exhausted, and Mettaton could only hope that a good night's rest would cure that.

Slowly, he crept over to the bed, pulling the blanket over himself and resting his head against the pillow. At first, he couldn't help but stare at the ceiling as thoughts swirled around in his mind. If this was a dream, would falling asleep wake him up? What if he woke up, but everything was the same? What if he didn't wake up at all?

 _That's a silly thought,_ was one of Mettaton's final remarks before forcing his eyes shut. _Of course you're going to wake up. Whether or not that's in your own bed… There's only one way to find out. For now, you get your beauty rest. Maybe this is all just a crazy dream._

He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the bedroom door creak open, the figure standing inside it quietly shuffling over to the spot in the center of the room, close to Mettaton's bed. They bent down to place a paper plate of dessert on top of the rug, far enough away so that the robot wouldn't squish it the moment he stepped out of bed. They then turned to face what they assumed to be said sleeping robot, a very small smile on their face as they watched him rest.

"Sweet dreams," Chara whispered before quickly dashing out the door and down to their own room.

* * *

 **A couple announcements before I answer reviews.**

 **I have officially started posting EquationTale art!** So far it's only a reference sheet for Chara and Mettaton...I admit I'm not the best artist in the world, but I'm going to try! If you want to take a look at that, either hop on over to the EquationTale Tumblr (seriously the URL is just "equationtale dot tumblr dot com"), or go follow my DeviantArt, KuraiTsukiMajutsu (preferably the first option). If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the tumblr! Chara will be answering them for now unless you specifically ask another character (heh... _chara_ cter). Some I may reply with art, some with just a text answer. Please bare with me, especially with my birthday and school right around the corner.

 **I have a question.** This is completely random, but if there was an UnderTale AU where all the characters were YouTubers (yes, I am making a list), would Azzman or SomeOrdinaryGamer be better for Grillby?

 **Reviews!** Thank you guys so much! You don't know how much I love reading your reviews and how DETERMINED they make me! The more, the merrier! You guys know you can make them without an account too, right? I appreciate each and every one of them, so please, feel free to leave as many as you like!

 **Aria Tavoosi:** I'm not sure about Mettaton's other forms yet. Frisk doesn't have a place in the cannon game where they change shape or even outfits, so I don't know where I'd work in a NEO or box form. If there is a point at which I can work those in, then I will certainly try, but as of right now, I see no such thing happening. As for the Alphys thing, what do you mean by "too shy"? If it's because she disappears when others see her, I have a reason for that. After all, she had to die somehow.

If it's something else...that might be good to know.

 **To all of you saying you like this story:** Answering them all separately seems a bit pointless...because I'm going to thank all of you! You guys are the whole reason I even write! Since I loose motivation easily...so thank you!


	7. Heartbreak

**For the best experience, I recommend listening to the instrumental cover of Heartache by Vetrom. ...You'll know when to play it.**

* * *

 _*You found a slice of chocolate cake with white chocolate in the icing._

"Alphys!" Mettaton exclaimed, quickly retracting his hand just as it was about to touch the plate on the floor. His head shot up toward the source of the noise, which just so happened to be a yellow dinosaur ghost standing in front of him.

"Uh...hey," she greeted, eyes on the robot for but a moment before staring down at the floor.

Mettaton made a quick gasp for air while placing a hand over his chest before he could speak again, but when he did, it was with a good bit of emphasis. Though, it usually is. "Darling, don't scare me like that! Dear lord you could have given me a heart attack!"

"Y-your body can't actually have...a heart attack…"

Frustrated, he let out a quick huff, placing both hands on his hips. "You get the point!"

"Okay, okay! I get the point…" she complied, playing with her own hands as her head popped up and then quickly looked back at her feet. "...um, I-I did want to ask you something, though…"

"And I wanted to ask you too," Mettaton replied as he let one of his arms fall to his side and leaned onto the opposite foot, "but go ahead."

"Well, um...I remember what you said earlier, a-about the gender thing...and I was thinking, um, if you want, we could head to my lab. I should have some spare parts there…"

Mettaton tilted his head, blinking once or twice while leaning forward slightly. "And?"

"And...I can alter your body!" Alphys followed this up with a nervous chuckle, her eyes dancing about the room as she spoke. "So you can customize yourself a little more. I...I'm assuming you want to…"

Mettaton gasped, his free hand moving toward his mouth, which was being held agape. "I haven't seen how I looked yet!"

"Mettaton, wait! I...uh, do you want to…?"

"Of course I want to see how I look," he replied with a flip of his hair, to which Alphys shook her head.

"N-no, I mean… Do you want to...to fix your body? Get the colors you want?"

"Hmm?" Mettaton then turned back to face his ghost companion, expression turning to one of a more blank look. "I want more than just colors. I want to make this body truly my own! The shape, the size, _everything!_ Do you think you could do that?"

The woman offered a small shrug as response, still playing with her hands as she stared at the floor. "I mean… I guess I could try."

"That's all I ask, Alphys," he finished and turned, quickly making his way for the mirror in the hall. He did want more; the robot would absolutely love the ability to change his appearance to what _he_ wanted, and this mechanical scientist was almost promising him it! She better deliver.

He hastily made his way out of the room, clutching the knob and swinging open the door violently enough to hear its hinges creak. The robot then glanced over to his left, feet following suit as a sharp turn was made before he caught sight of the reflective surface hanging on the wall and froze.

What was in the reflection was...certainly something.

 _*It's you,_ Alphys said, phasing through the wall beside the mirror as if it didn't even exist. Mettaton probably would have jumped for the second time that day and about the fifth since falling down, however found himself too preoccupied by his own reflection to really mind much. Once more the robot ran his hand through his hair, which he pulled further down over the right eye to hide the burn mark that had singed a stain on his metal.

"Latex?" he asked, not bothering to remove his eyes from his image.

"Uh...the hair is nylon."

"Really?" He blinked a few times, shaking his head, but still refusing to look away. "Because it feels like latex." He could have sworn that's what it was…

Alphys returned the gesture, giving a nonverbal 'no' as well and accompanied it with a sigh. "I guess I'll have to adjust your nervous system...or the sensory memories installed into your database. I, um...that's nylon. Latex doesn't work for hair. That's what your boots are made of."

"Hm." Problem with his body? Pft. Of course not. He could learn. Mettaton could learn the difference. So nylon feels like latex here. He can remember that. No big deal.

There was a moment of silence that ensued while Mettaton continued to observe himself in the mirror and Alphys watched him. Once or twice she opened her mouth to speak but then closed it shortly after, finding herself at a lack of words to do so.

Finally, on the third try, the dinosaur girl was able to manage audible sounds, and took a glance over her shoulder as she spoke. "You...wanted to ask me something?"

Mettaton snapped his fingers and quickly refocused his attention to his ghostly partner. "Yes! I was meaning to ask you since we parted ways at those froggits. What happened back there?"

"The...froggits?" Oh, geez… He was bringing this up. In hindsight, she should have expected he'd ask at some point, but that wasn't something she thought too much about. It happened a lot, after all. It wasn't like Alphys actually _wanted_ people to die. She just kind of...said stuff…

He nodded, one hand moving to his hip, which jutted out to the side. "Yes. The froggits. You were saying something about killing them or whatever. You said you heard something?"

"Um…" She looked over at the living room again and took a small step backward, toward said area. "...I think I heard Chara moving around. Sh-...they're awake now."

"No, darling," Mettaton replied with a small sigh and a shake of his head, "I meant back by the froggits. You said you heard something there."

"They're probably waiting for you. They probably heard us."

"Okay, but I'm not talking about- Alphys, where are you going?"

"I-I-I think you should go talk to them. We need to get to Hotland and...I don't know how to do that without going through walls."

With yet another sigh, the robot slowly trudged after her, a frown dashing across his metallic face but was quickly replaced with a small grin as they passed the stairway and a certain human figure came into view. The human appeared to be seated on a warm, chocolate-colored chair with a dark green pillow beside them. There was a book in their hand, which their focus seemed to be fixated on. It was nearly impossible for Mettaton to see the title, but whatever it was, it must have been good. Chara really didn't seem like the kind of person to be easily enthralled by books.

"Good morning," the robot said as he made his way over to the chair, letting one arm rest on the top, just an inch or so away from Chara's head, while smiling down at the teenage human.

The human looked up at the person hovering above them and allowed a smile of their own to pass over them. "You're up already?"

"I could say the same thing to you," he replied in a light-hearted tone, which made their smile grow wider.

"Hey. I want to thank you."

"Oh?" Mettaton cocked his head to the side slightly, shifting his weight onto one foot.

They nodded, gently shutting the book and setting it face-down on one leg while they angled their body to point to their guest. Chara then nodded and held their hand out, palm-up, towards the guy. "Yeah. I wanted to thank you for being here. It gets kind of lonely, what with the only company being the Ruins monsters and all."

Mettaton's eyes drifted upward as he thought of what such a thing would be like. "I suppose I can imagine…"

"Mom sometimes stops by, but other than that…" They shook their head and the two locked eyes once more. "I have so many things I want to show you! There's this great spot to catch bugs with, and Mom gave me a bunch of her old books to add to the ones I brought with me when I was originally stationed here. There's some really neat ones, like this one on knives and weapons!"

Mettaton nodded, though his expression was a mixture of curiosity, minor confusion, and above all, a semi-faux smile, mostly concealing his distaste for insects.

"We can talk with the locals- some of them are very chatty. Oh! I could even teach you how to bake!" They paused, and Mettaton could practically see the twinkling in Chara's eyes as they spoke. "Maybe even start a fam-..."

The two stared at each other for a moment or so, one blinking profusely as a blush spread across their face. "...famous...um, snail farm! Just like Mom...kind of."

"Snail farm?" Mettaton leaned forward, to which Chara blushed further and leaned away. "I didn't know you own snails."

"I don't."

The two stared at each other once more, Mettaton glancing away quickly after the silence started to check for Alphys, who he then found had already disappeared. He shook his head, pressed back a small sigh, and returned his gaze to Chara's own.

"I mean, Mom has a bunch of snails. She breeds 'em and uses 'em for food. I think." They shook their head. "Anyway. Point is, uh, we could sell them here in the Ruins with Mom as the supplier."

"Snails? That could be…" Well, it sounded rather boring, but he did have a pet snail collection at home after all, so maybe he wasn't one to talk…this is not what he should be focusing on!

Instead, Mettaton blinked once or twice, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and then cupping his cheek in his free hand. "Chara, darling, look. I appreciate your help. This bag is a lovely color, and the room you offered is fabulous, but..."

Chara's smile dropped, along with the rest of their expression. They leaned back ever-so-slightly, bringing the book up to their chest and clutching it against the robe's cloth like a stuffed bear. "But?"

"...but I can't stay here. Alphys told me-"

"Alphys is dead," they cut in with a wide, sickening smile, which caused Mettaton to wince. Their eyes, though… It took a moment, but he caught sight of their eyes, full of hurt and loss… "...Or at least missing. She's been missing for so long without any word of her, and considering how monsters turn into dust at their deaths, I'll take a wild guess and say she's dead. So stop talking about her."

"But-"

"But look at this book!" Chara cut in again, quickly opening it and skimming through the pages. "72 Facts About Knives. Did you know that the WASP knife can force carbon dioxide inside the unlucky person who happens to be stabbed by it, thus creating an air pocket the size of a basketball and freezing surrounding organs?"

The robot blinked for a moment or so, mind processing the information and then wincing at realization of what it meant. "...Why would I know that? Why would I _want_ to know-? Look, I just want to know how to get to Hotland."

Chara's (quite obviously) faux, anxious smile dropped suddenly, their body still for but a moment before violently moving to their feet and tossing the book to the side. Their cheery tone seemed to be ditched with the book as a more dark, serious sound came out, and honestly, Mettaton was more than a bit startled when he first witnessed it.

"I have to do something."

Without another word, the human hurried off toward the hallway, though Mettaton watched them jeer violently to the left and down the flight of stairs that lie opposite the home's entrance. He began to follow after them, pausing for a brief moment as they descended and then picking up pace once more. He then began his own climb downward.

Upon reaching the bottom, a familiar sight caught the robot's eye and he observed as Chara stared at the floor in thought. It was only after deeming them safe that he continued.

"So you wanna go to Hotland."

Mettaton froze about a foot or so away from his friend. Their voice hadn't seemed to brighten any, unfortunately, and it was doing more than just put him on edge. He felt like they might just snap any moment now...and that couldn't be good for anyone.

"The exit to the Ruins is just up ahead."

Our protagonist nodded to this, though an uneasy feeling was slowly rising in his stomach. There was definitely something off about Chara…something desperately wrong.

"It's a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground."

He nodded again, taking another step forward and glancing up at the human with cautious eyes. No sudden movements. There was no telling what they'd do.

"I'm going to destroy it."

Mettaton blinked. Woah woah woah, what!? No, no! "Chara, I can't-"

"No one will ever be able to leave again. Go upstairs."

With that, they moved onward, and it was no doubt that Mettaton was keeping at their heels.

The pair paced down a rather decent-sized corridor before Chara suddenly lurched to a halt, their attention once more on their feet as their mind whizzed about in thought. "Nearly every human to fall down here meets the same fate. I see them all. From the time I was stationed here I've seen them. Do you know what I do?"

The robot opened his mouth to answer, but quickly shut it upon discovery that the question was rhetorical.

"I'm supposed to report them. That's my purpose here. But no one listens when I say to stay."

Once more Mettaton found himself opening his mouth, however decided against speaking. Perhaps it was something about the way Chara held themself that made him hold back on voicing his mind, or perhaps he found himself aware there was more. After all, curiosity can only be contained for so long.

"It's an endless, pointless cycle. Everything.

They come.

They leave.

They die.

You're no exception."

The wannabe-star wanted to argue- he really did! But something inside him screamed that for once, it might be good to listen...or at least focus on drowning that voice out. After all, he knew it held truth. That didn't mean he'd be willing to accept it, but there was truth there.

"You think you're so great. But you know what? If you leave the Ruins, I have to report you, too. I already broke my promise to Asriel once. I don't intend to do it again." They paused, letting out a small, barely audible sigh and clenching their eyes shut. "This is supposed to be to protect you. Go back."

They carried on.

It wasn't until the end of the corridor that Chara had stopped again, though they still didn't bother to turn around. They still didn't bother to meet Mettaton's eyes. "You can't stop me. Go home."

The protagonist hesitated before following after. He almost felt the need to cry...almost. There was a feeling of empathy for the human he'd grown a liking to, and seeing all the monsters down here, yet no human… It must get lonely. There was no doubt. But at the same time, he couldn't stay stuck in this tiny box! What kind of life would that be? Not one he'd be happy living. Mettaton wasn't sure what problems lied ahead of him, but whatever they were...he could take them. Or at least, that's what the robot told himself as his feet followed in Chara's footsteps.

There, stopped for the final time, Chara stood facing what Mettaton could only assume to be the exit to the Ruins, their back to the protagonist. Their breathing was slow, even heavy, fists clenched together in tight balls. This time, when they spoke, it was very subtle, but Mettaton was just able to catch a slight uneven waver in their voice.

"...Fine."

What happened next made Mettaton lean away and forced his hands to fly in front of him. The caretaker of the Ruins pounded on the exit door loud enough to cause one of the bricks to clatter against the cement floor. They let out a muffled scream, quite possibly due to them biting their lip, or so it sounded.

"FINE! You really want to leave me? AM I REALLY THAT BAD TO BE AROUND!?"

Mettaton's face fell ever-so-slightly at the sound of those words, not to mention the sight of Chara ramming their head against the door and letting it rest there. "Cha-"

"You're just like her," they muttered, and it became quite obvious they were doing their best not to cry. "You're just like her!"

"Chara, I-"

"NO!" Their left fist once more made contact with the door before flattening into a palm and sliding down it an inch or so. "I don't want your sorry excuses! You want to go home! You want to go back to Mommy and Daddy and all your friends, because everyone's waiting for you up on the surface. I get it! You have people that actually _care_ about you…"

They shook their head, sniffled once, and rubbed away whatever liquid had begun to stain their rosey cheeks. "I get it. I really do. So I'll let you leave."

Mettaton hesitated. "You will?"

"I'll let you leave on one condition."

Chara's leather boot reached up against the door and they kicked, enough force behind them to propel themself in a semi-circle. Their eyes locked with Mettaton's, and it became clear that they were red, redder than normal. The crystal-looking tears coating them might have had something to do with that.

They darted their hands inside of their pockets and back out mere moments later, now a large, sharp knife equipped in each, both being held out to the sides and pointing upward so that the blade was facing the bot.

Said bot took another step back with the empathetic look in his eyes quickly being replaced by one of fear. "Cha-?"

"PROVE YOURSELF!"

There was another small sigh as Mettaton felt his heart fall out of his chest once more, though it was replaced with more of a whimper when he caught sight of Chara's eyes. They were...red. Glowing red.

 _*Chara blocks the way!_

Well, at least Mettaton had an idea of where this was going. He glanced down at the buttons before him, moving his purple heart over the 'ACT' button and letting it hover beside 'Check'. A part of him didn't want to stare at the mess that had become of his human friend, but another part was more than eager to observe.

 _*Chara - Attack 80, Defense 80_

 _The worst kind of pain is when you're smiling to stop the tears from falling…_

Mettaton let out a light groan as he glanced over to where he was certain Alphys had to be standing with a look that read "This is already sad and you don't need to add to it." However, his attention was quickly redirected to a bright red knife that whizzed past him and pierced the floor a mere foot away. When he turned back to Chara, who was still holding both of their own knives, he noticed several more larger-than-normal ones flying toward him and even more hovering in midair just behind his human opponent.

"Chara…" Mettaton whimpered as one hit his arm, causing the other to jeer toward it and thus moving his purple heart over to the 'Talk' button.

 _*You couldn't think of what to say._

This caused the robot to frown, his eyes wandering down to the floor for a brief moment, then back up at the human before him as they dashed toward him, the red knives above their head firing and respawning in a circular pattern. These, at least, he had managed to dodge, and was quick to press down on the 'MERCY' button, followed shortly thereafter by 'Spare'. He wasn't going to fight. Not now. Not when their attack was a freakin' eighty and both his attack and defense were but slivers of that number! Sure, he could probably take them on if he _really_ tried, but, uh...that might involve pain. That might involve a lot of pain. He wasn't very eager to get himself hurt.

 _*Chara prepares a sharp attack._

He nodded, making a quick side-step as several more magick knives descended upon him. They seemed even faster than they did before, if only slightly more so.

Chara took in a deep breath and bit down on their lip as one graced the side of Mettaton's arm, tearing the fabric of his striped shirt slightly and leaving behind a decently-sized dent. Still, though, the protagonist refused to remove his heart from the 'Spare' option. He was doing his best to dodge the attacks- at least he wasn't a sitting duck- but why wasn't he fighting!?

Though they remained silent, Mettaton could see their expression falter as he kept his heart by 'Spare' for the third time. They dove forward, a real knife in each hand and swinging real blades at him- or at least attempting to- with red ones trailing behind the metal weapons. These were much easier to avoid, he found, despite not being one for hand-to-hand combat. When Chara thrusted a blade toward his chest, he instantly jumped back, and yet still did not move his heart off of that button.

Out of the corner of his eye, our protagonist spotted a health bar, most presumably theirs, which already seemed to be halfway down by the time he was struck again in the shoulder. As soon as the blade had made contact, Chara withdrew it, taking several steps back with a curious, confused, enraged expression.

The fifth time he let that heart remain there, the anger seemed to blanket their face.

"What are you doing!?" Chara exclaimed and clenched their jaw shortly after. They backed several steps away from Mettaton, re-approaching the door and once again summoning several red weapons to send flying at the robot, who lept away from them as gracefully as an acrobat. To be honest, it would've been pretty impressive if Chara hadn't been so focused.

They let out a small growl, followed shortly by a gasp for breath as Chara fought back the tears in their eyes. "FIGHT me or run away!"

"Stop it!" they cried at Mettaton's persistence in pacifism. They sent out more blades, creating more dents, but still he refused to FIGHT. Still he refused to counter. Only dodge.

Mettaton's eyes locked with theirs, and they could feel their body tense. His face...he was in pain. He was in pain already, and it killed them.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Chara charged forward once more, a knife in either hand as they hacked and slashed the air in front of the robot. Said robot would step away from the swinging blades as best as he could and was doing fairly well until he found himself losing his footing and Mettaton's high heels gave way to the cold, damp floor, sliding against the cement. He was pushed down onto his back with Chara pouncing shortly after.

Chara held the knife above his pinned body, as if ready to drive it through their chest like a skewer, but took a look over the robot and froze.

"..."

Mettaton still wasn't fighting. He could see Chara shake, he could notice the dark shadow over their eyes, but there wasn't anything he could do. Honestly, he was just about ready to fall apart as it was… If the human wanted to stop attacking, he certainly wasn't going to provoke them. Not in this position, at the very least.

They remained silent, however, body still trembling, knife still poised over top of the protagonist's body, but they couldn't find it in them to stop the tears from falling over their cheeks. Chara whimpered once or twice and waited, but Mettaton still made no move to attack.

"I know you want to go home, but…" they said through gritted teeth. Chara found it nearly impossible to speak through all this crying...but they were determined.

After a few more sniffles, they brought the blade down an inch or so. "But please...go upstairs…"

When Mettaton didn't reply, the human clenched their jaw tightly for a moment to gather themself and continued. "I promise to take care of you. If you stay here…" Their mouth twisted into a bitter-sweet smile in a last-ditch effort to avoid breaking down. There was water pouring over their eyes, but…

"We can have a good life together."

They let out a small laugh as Mettaton raised his hand out slowly to reach their left arm, the one with the raised blade.

"Why are you making this so _difficult!?_ "

To this, the robot's movements froze, and he locked eyes- pathetic, painful eyes- with them again, but they only laughed to avoid further tears.

"Why do you think I'm such a DEMON!?"

"Chara…" The former human once more reached for their quivering arm, and this time was successful in holding it gently with what served as his hand. "...I don't think that."

The shaking seemed to die down, however Chara did not reply. There was another shadow cast over their eyes and Mettaton seemed unsure as to whether they would burst into tears or drive the knife through them, but he held fast.

Another moment later and they laughed.

Again, it was the kind of laugh that showed they were quite obviously attempting to stave off yet another fit, but it wasn't helping the robot's guilt one bit.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?" they laughed with tears rolling down their face and falling onto Mettaton's dented metal. "I can't even stop one person from leaving. Not one! I'm so pathetic."

The protagonist opened his mouth to speak something, but for once in his life, was unsure of what to say. He simply closed it and waited for them to continue. It would take another breath or two for Chara to regain themself, but they did so. They even seemed to be shifting back into a steady rhythm of breathing.

"...I understand. You wouldn't like it here. The Ruins aren't that grand, and you want something bigger, don't you? You want to see the world…"

They paused for another breath and, though there were still tears, it at least seemed as though their voice was becoming even again.

"All I wanted was another human. I wanted to keep my promise to her, too. To both of them. But their promises are so conflicting…" They shook their head. "...It was too much to expect."

Mettaton nodded slowly, though his expression was a mix of both sympathy and curiosity. "Her"...perhaps it was the Asriel that Chara had mentioned earlier? Or perhaps they were referring to Toriel...or maybe someone else.

"For you...I will let you pass."

They removed their arm from Mettaton's grasp, sticking the knife back into their robe pocket and carefully rising off of the dented metal body. Though he wasn't entirely sure, our protagonist could have sworn he heard them mutter as they did so something along the lines of, "For you, I'll let you go."

They turned around slowly, facing the door one last time and rubbing at their eyes. This was it. Mettaton was going to die out there, wasn't he? If his story was true, he avoided death once, but that was in the Ruins. That was a place where his SOUL was free to roam without chancing it being stolen. Out there...out there, there was no telling what they would do.

"If you really want to leave...I won't stop you. But please, promise me one thing."

Mettaton tilted his head to the side, taking a small step forward and holding his arms out to his chest. "What's that?"

"Please, don't come back."

Suddenly, Chara turned around, their arms outstretched as they tackled the robot in a rather tight hug. The human rested their head against the former one's metal shoulder and closed their eyes for a brief moment. This would be the last time they saw him, wouldn't it? This would be the last time Chara would be able to see Mettaton in one piece, and that thought only made them tighten their hold.

Of course, Mettaton certainly wasn't one to refuse such a gesture. He accepted with open arms after being given some time to process what had happened. He held them close for perhaps a minute or so...it was probably closer to a few seconds, but to Mettaton, it felt like time had stopped entirely. Chara wasn't going to follow him. This was finally starting to set in. Chara wouldn't be with him. He'd barely known them for a day, and already he was attached to the welcoming gatekeeper. But...that gatekeeper wouldn't be following him.

When it was over, Chara sighed, their eyes partially closed and a bittersweet smile once more present on their face.

"Goodbye, Mettaton," they said, began walking back in the direction of the house, paused, took a quick glance back, and then continued onward.

Mettaton couldn't help but watch them leave. He was going to miss that face, sure, but… There were more pressing matters ahead.

 **Chara's Epilogue**

They sat down, head hanging over the decaying corpse and tears no longer being held back. Not even an attempt.

"You weren't lying…" they muttered, feeling even worse now. It had been the flowers that cushioned their blow when they fell down. It didn't seem like much, but somehow, those flowers were enough to spare Chara's life, save for a few broken bones. Mettaton, though...or, they supposed, in this case, Meckenzie, whose human body seemed to be covering up piles of bloody, shriveled plant life that was just as deceased as the person lying on top...

They sighed, wiping away the tears with their robe sleeves and shaking their head at the sight. It'd be an awful mess to clean up, surely.

"I wish I watered these more often."

* * *

 **Heh...Chara's theme is Heartbreak.**

 **Also, don't quote me on that fact about the WASP knife.** I just found it on wikipedia. My mom says carbon dioxide doesn't even freeze, so... (shrug). She's a biochemist. I kinda trust her with that.

 **At any rate, just a few things and then I'll get to answer reviews.** Y'know, the whole two I can actually respond to. Seriously guys, please, give me your thoughts on this thing. It encourages me to keep going. I just lost my muse after all. Chara was my writing muse for this (Demon Mom is best Mom). I need another, and fast. I need your DETERMINATION! Even if it's just a simple "Hey, this is cool!" It's so much better than nothing! Faves and follows are nice, but reviews are everything to me, especially if it's something I can respond to.

 **So, since school is going to be starting soon, I decided to change my schedule** (I've been trying to upload Friday afternoon) to Sunday evening. I don't know how well this will work...after all, I'm a heavy procrastinator. There's probably gonna be a lot of shit I need to do Sunday night once school actually kicks in. But I'll try.

 **And I'm really sorry if the action scene sucked.** Action scenes aren't my strong suit. I've realized this. But I have to try at some point, right?

 **Now for reviews.**

 **CK:** More feels, you're welcome ;3

 **Aria:**...Not going to lie, that confused me a little bit. I think what happened is you were describing Mettaton and Frisk fighting, which would really only happen in a geno-route... But! It did give me an idea! So thank you :3

 **SupremeEntity11:** I'm not sure. I have a few more AU ideas in mind, YouTuberTale being one of them, but for that particular one, all I can really think of is a list. Not gonna lie, making the list is extremely entertaining (heh...PewDiePie as Undyne), but that's all I know where to go with it. A list. And even if I _did_ know what to do with that list, I'd need people helping me because a good amount of YouTubers I included on that list were recommended by friends. Sans, for instance. My friend recommended Cr1tikal (is that how you spell it?) for Sans, and I don't even know who that is. There's no way in Hell I'd be able to get personalities down.

But, I suppose, there is a slim chance that something could come out of it.

 **As a side note:** We've officially hit 1,000 freakin' viewers! And just as Mettaton is leaving the Ruins... Ah, well. Glad to see the new faces :3 ...except that I can't. But oh well.

 **TO THE GUEST THAT REVIEWED ON THIS CHAPTER:** When...what? When did I say Frisk is in Mettaton's role? I...what? Normally I'd wait 'til next chapter to answer, but...no... I don't want people getting excited/un-excited for something that isn't going to happen. So...no...


	8. Hi

The first thing that Mettaton noticed when he stepped out of the Ruins door was the immediate cold that graced his metal skin. His hot pink boots crunched what appeared to be a few layers of snow beneath his feet, high heels digging into the ground and sticking. It'd take some effort to step considering how the heels stuck, though he'd much rather have that than his feet freeze…

The second thing he noticed was the sound of the heavy metal door behind him. You see, Mettaton was by no means a stupid person. He may appear vain, at some points unwise, but he is not dumb. Sure, he could _probably_ handle what came up ahead, but just in case that 0.1% chance occurred and he had to flee, it'd be best to do so to a familiar place. Thus, he had intentionally left the door open.

However, it seemed that the door had continued closing from the moment he let go of it, and by the time the sound of its motion caught his ears, it was already too late to spin around and grab the divider. Just as his hand reached for the latch, it slammed shut. The latch proved pointless, and Mettaton's efforts to reopen the door were unsuccessful. It locked from the inside.

The protagonist let out a small sigh before shaking his head and crushing his heels against the snow once more. As he walked, Mettaton surveyed the area around him, being careful to note the woods to the left of him- empty, hollow woods, with trees that reminded him more of sticks, limbs bare- and what little wildlife took refuge in them. He couldn't even spot a single bug, let alone a bird or squirrel. Perhaps it was from the snow...on that note, how did it even snow? There wasn't weather under the surface last time he checked. No clouds to send down precipitation. This was real, right?

To his right, the robot was able to catch sight of a what appeared to be a very long, very wide, very steep cliff that jutted out of the side of the pathway. He noted a lack of fencing or other objects to stop oneself from accidentally (or, Heaven forbid, intentionally) falling to their doom. Or, so it seemed. This place was so strange and foreign that honestly the guy wouldn't be surprised to find some sort of invisible barrier...but he'd rather not test that theory.

Seeing as the only viable option lied straight along the path, our protagonist continued forward, each painfully silent step reminding him just how cold the air really was. He wrapped his arms tightly around his chest and shivered a small bit. Ug...why didn't he bring a sweater?

"Alphys…" the former-human muttered while still keeping alert. He watched his breath formulate a small cloud in front of his lips and recoiled a bit from the bitterness that nipped his metal. He was about to say something about being built without a sensitive nervous system when a light 'tap' from behind caught his attention. He paused. However, even after his feet were firmly planted in the snow, there was still a single 'tap' of a footstep that echoed after.

Mettaton glanced over his shoulder and scanned his surroundings for any possible sign of movement, but found none.

"Hello?" he cried out into the deafening silence.

There was no echo.

Cautiously, he turned back to the direction of his travels, stepping carefully over a stray branch that made its way onto the path. The thing seemed freshly-fallen, as all its limbs were still attached and not a scratch was present on it. The tapping...that could have been it, though it was probably his imagination...this place was so creepy.

The robot shook his head. "Ah, you're letting the stress get to you. It's al-"

He cut himself off at the sound of a loud ' _CRACK!'_ and then proceeded to whip his head around. No matter how long his eyes searched, all that stuck out was a broken stick.

Mettaton continued onward, passing several more trees and even a few that had been growing from below that long, deep cliff, each step closer to sending his mind into panic, breath becoming more uneven the farther along he traveled. At one point, he caught a shadow dart behind him- it was just a sliver of a glimpse from the corner of his eyes- but decided that that, too, was just his mind playing games with him. There was nothing to worry about… Chara was wrong. He wasn't going to die...not so soon after leaving…

 _Deep breaths,_ the robot thought to himself as his pace came to a slow and the sound of his heart pounding soon began to drown out what little outside noises were around him.

Soon, however, his eye caught sight of a small bridge. It looked...fairly sturdy...no handrails, and it seemed quite possible to slip off and fall to one's death (again), but fairly sturdy at least… No, what was more intriguing were the wooden bars that settled over top of it- two on each side of the bridge, four in total, two of which were attached to the very edges of the wooden crosswalk. With a large gulp of air, Mettaton mustered up the courage to approach said contraption and examine it.

He froze, however, when the light 'tap tap tap' in the snow turned into a loud, agonizingly slow _CRUNC_ _H, CRUNCH, CRUNCH_ , from behind him. With each footstep that wasn't his own, Mettaton felt his heart pump faster and faster, or at least, the rhythmic pulsation in his chest increased. Whether or not that was from an artificial heart wasn't his focus at that point in time. Instead, his ears had trained on the sound that approached while the rest of him tried its best to appear confident as ever, even he didn't feel like it one bit.

When the noise stopped, there were no words. A hand graced the top of his shoulder and nearly caused him to jump, but he didn't. Mettaton held firmly in place. He took a deep breath in, legs about ready to give way, and slowly turned around.

What he saw was another figure- human, presumably, though it was difficult to tell with the large winter coat that was wrapped around them- and at least a foot or so shorter. Even with the height difference, the shadow cast over the stranger's eyes more than made up for whatever intimidation points had been lost.

The figure removed its hand from Mettaton's shoulder and held out the opposite one toward the bot. He glanced down at it, but, upon finding nothing worth noting, reached his own metallic one toward the outstretched glove and grasped it. However…

"OH MY GOD!" Mettaton screamed and immediately let go of the hand when he had noticed it disconnect from its host and now watched in horror as the thing fell limply to the floor.

It didn't take long for him to realize that no blood was coming out of this detached limb and that, more importantly, its "arm" seemed to be nothing more than a wooden stick, now being outlined in cold snow. This was the point where small giggles could be heard from the figure in front of him and Mettaton's breathing began its rapid decrease in intensity.

The figure removed its blue hoodie to reveal the face of (in Mettaton's eyes) a child. Their hair was a shade or two darker than Chara's, eyes more of a hazelish-brown than red and skin giving off a definite Asian appearance as opposed to Chara's Caucasian, but otherwise, the two were practically mirrors of each other, even down to the stripe. Two purple ones on a blue coat rather than a single yellow on top of green robes, but still…

"What's so funny?" Mettaton asked. His hands fell over top of his hips as he leaned forward ever-so-slightly, chest puffing out and back straightening.

The figure only shook their head and bent down for the glove. It was as if they didn't even care about a tall, threatening robot hovering over them! ...Mettaton was threatening. Definitely.

"You didn't even tell me your name yet and already you feel the need to prank me." The robot shook his head and let out a small huff. "How rude."

The teen followed up with a few final laughs before wiping their eyes and nodding with a broad smile on their face. They glanced up at Mettaton and waved. "Hi."

"Hi?" Mettaton blinked. "You nearly _scared_ me to death and all I get is a 'hi'!?"

The figure blinked in return, the smile dropping. They shrugged, took a few steps forward, and waved. "Bye."

In honesty, this person probably would have walked right past the weird robot thing if it weren't for the fact that he was blocking their path, and they, too, would rather not test to see how far down the cliff fell, so they waited patiently for him to move. When he didn't, they frowned further.

"No no, that isn't going to fly. You're going to apologize to me if you want to get through."

This made the stranger scrunch their nose up like a small child that was being scolded by their mother. You don't need to be such a stick-in-the-mud, jeez… "Frisk."

Mettaton squinted, tilting his head to the side. "What?"

"My name is Frisk. Now you know my name."

The robot nodded. "Right...Frisk." Slowly, Mettaton loosened the grip he had around his own arms and allowed them to move closer to their natural resting position. "And you're...human?" They certainly sounded like it…

Frisk nodded and their smile popped back on their face. "Yup! And I have to ask what a fine piece of metal's doing all the way in Snowdin. Last I checked, the fashion shows are in the Capital."

"Capi...oh my." The former human blushed as he caught the wink Frisk threw in with what he could only assume to be a compliment. Alright, this was getting very strange… He was pretty sure being hit on wasn't one of the things Chara had warned him about. However, Mettaton quickly regained himself. He was Mettaton, after all. Why not show off what the person was complimenting?

"I appreciate the flirting, darling, though I think I might be a bit old for you."

"I am sixteen," Frisk replied in a rather deadpanned voice. Jeez, just because they're short, everyone assumes…

"Oh." Well that's, uh… Mettaton blinked a few times before clearing his throat and delivering a decisive nod. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get to Hotland, would you?"

To this, Frisk shrugged, taking a quick glance over the robot's shoulder and frowning ever-so-slightly. "Well, I can probably help you a little, but...if that's a human SOUL in there-" They nodded to his lower abdomen. "-you might wanna hurry up a bit. I'm supposed to be hunting for 'em."

The robot tilted his head once more while shifting weight from one foot to the other and bringing one hand up to rest on his hip. "Hunting them? But aren't you human?"

"I'm a _legal_ human. There's only two. We're supposed to capture humans. I don't really want to, but my roommate on the other hand…" They paused, letting out a small chuckle and continuing, "...or, maybe I should say, _tem-_ mate."

This only caused Mettaton to further wipe his face with confusion. "What?"

"That pun'll make sense in a sec. Uh...go through the bars. Just through 'em. They're not narrow enough to stop anyone."

"Okay...if you say so." The bot shrugged before letting his arms fall back at his sides and turning around. He'd nearly forgotten about the cold by now and instead found himself squeezing through the rather wide passage. For a gate, it was pretty wide. Whoever made it must be a complete freakin' dingus or something; _he_ certainly wouldn't allow such an error to be made.

Once the pair had made it to the other side, the woods gave way to a small clearing, of which Mettaton could clearly make out what looked like some kind of wooden table with a roof covering the top of it. More of a counter than a table, he supposed, but what on Earth was it doing in the middle of the woods? Was this supposed to be a park of some sort?

Beside the table was a rather thick lamppost just about the size of Mettaton. When Frisk pointed to it, he wasted no time in hurrying over. It wasn't the most intriguing light source by any means. What was so-?

"FRISK!"

A shrill voice made Mettaton freeze in place, his eyes fixated on the...cat...dog... _thing_ that came scurrying down the pathway. It was standing on its hind legs like a human or...what were those things called? ...furries! The _thing_ matched the definition of furry almost perfectly, with its shoulder-length black hair and blue-and-yellow striped shirt, as well as grey collar. Hell, the only thing that could possibly _not_ classify it as one was the fact that it looked like a dog and cat got together for a little fun time. Considering Mettaton knew next to nothing of furries, this could mean absolutely nothing. Considering the internet, it probably didn't.

" 'sup, Tem?"

"U no was "sup," Frisk! Is been liek, 4eveh an u still haven't. Recalberated. Ur. PUZZLEZ!"

Mettaton noticed this "Tem" (who looked an awful lot like the temmies in the Ruins) glance over at him and he tensed, however she quickly looked away, as if a fuchsia-and-purple colored robot standing next to a lamppost in the middle of a forest was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Sorry, Tem."

"Sorry? Sorry!? Ur dad is gunna be here n e minute an look wat hes gunna find! Not-recalberated puzzlez!"

Frisk shrugged. It appeared as though they really couldn't care less, and Mettaton wasn't entirely sure why they even stayed around. So...this was their roommate? It's just puzzles… Puzzles are nice, but nothing to get worked up about. If he were in Frisk's shoes, he'd walk right past that Tem.

Unfortunately, that wasn't an option at the moment.

"Ug! Why does sum tem like me have 2 do so much 2 get into col leg?" Temmie turned around to face the cliff, stomping her foot onto the pathway and wagging her tail in the process (that tail was not helping differentiate between a feline and a canine by the way). "I will be da 1! I MUST be da 1! I will capture HOOMAN N DEN I GET IN2 ROYAL GUARD!"

Frisk bit their lip to hold back a small laugh at the sight of this and nodded. They've heard this dialogue about a million times before. Seeing Temmie slip back on her cheerful smile was all too common for them, and it brought a warming sense of familiarity down onto the human.

"Den," Temmie continued, clasping her hands together and turning her attention toward the sky, eyes practically sparkling with what little light could be seen. "I, da formidtemble tEMMIE! will get paid gud muns, send it 2 family, an use rest 4 col leg! Is everything Tem could wish 4!"

The teen gave a small nod in reply, their hands flying into their coat pockets and glancing over at the dead human. "Hm. I think this lamppost could help."

Mettaton, in turn, felt his "heart" skip a beat. What was Frisk doing!? Were they _trying_ to get him caught!? Now he knew what Chara meant about the monsters outside of the Ruins...traitors! All of them!

"FRISK!" The temmie growled and stomped her foot once more. "Dat is NOT HELPING!"

"Ah, c'mon, Tem. You know the col leg could never kick out someone as cute as you."

Temmie huffed in reply. "Of course nut! But! I have 2 get in 1st! An u lookin at a lamppost isnt helpin!"

"Eyyyyy." The human leaned to one side, head now resting on their own shoulder as they lifted up their elbows, though not near enough to remove their hands from the coat pockets. " _Lighten_ up a bit, would ya? I wouldn't want you getting _post_ -par _tem_ depression."

"FRISK I WAS NEVER PREGNANT!"

The human, however, chuckled. "Aw, c'mon. You know you're smiling."

"I no," the tem replied, her eyes beginning to water a bit and she sniffled. "But I hate it."

The human then approached their tem-mate and placed a hand gently onto the slightly-taller one's shoulder, offering an apologetic look as comfort. "Please don't cry."

Temmie turned around, sniffled once more, but held a smile on her face as her tail wagged. "Awwww Frisk-"

"I told you not to _fur_ -get how beau- _tem_ -ful you are."

To this, the tem growled, completely ignoring the wink she received in favor of shrugging the hand off of her shoulder. "FRISK!"

When she noticed her roommate chuckling, Temmie huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. I will go 2 work on puzzles so u dad dun come home to bad 1s. Okee?"

Frisk nodded. "okee."

"An u…" Tem's eyes gazed over her roommate while a sly smirk made its way onto her face. "...shouldnt leave skele- _ton_ of work 4 ur dad."

"You stole that one from him," they replied, though didn't bother to hold back a laugh and pressed their hand once more onto Temmie's shoulder as they did so.

Temmie let the hand fall off of her with a confident smile and then hurried off down the pathway, stopping not very far along to turn around and shout, "bOI!" but then scurried off the direction she came.

After watching the strange hybrid scurry down the pathway and making sure it had dove out of sight, Mettaton stepped away from his spot behind the lamppost and made his way over to the human, who was just standing there expectantly. While Frisk's face seemed to hold a rather neutral expression, Mettaton's...certainly did not.

"What was _THAT_!?" he cried, stomping his heels into the snow as he walked. One fist was curled, the other flew out to gesture in the direction that _thing_ had gone.

"Temmie," Frisk replied. Their facial expression remained neutral, however, the robot could tell quite clearly that they wanted to show off a smart-ass grin. ...He was pretty sure.

"Not _that._ I meant _that!_ " he then gestured to the lamppost that he himself had hidden behind but moments before. "You nearly got me caught!"

Frisk, however, shook their head, that smile poking into view, if only slightly. They kept their hands in their pockets while turning back to Mettaton with eyes that read a lot more wisdom than one might expect. "She's harmless. Temmies in general are pretty harmless, and Tem is just trying to make end's meat for her family. Dude, tems find humans adorable. I wouldn't be worried."

"But I don't look human." This was the point where Mettaton's anger drastically dropped from rage to minor discomfort as one hand made its way for the scorch mark on his cheek. "I still have a human…SOUL…" That was a weird thing to think about… "...but I don't look human."

To this, the human just shrugged. "Still, though. Just act human. It'll make her day- I guarantee it."

The robot rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking to make her day. I'm looking to get to Hotland."

"Please?" Frisk pleaded, and now that mostly-neutral face morphed into a typical child's, complete with puppy dog eyes and quivering lip. "For meee?"

"Darling, you said you were sixteen."

"That doesn't mean I can't be cute."

Mettaton sighed, bent over, and shook his head in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll play along, as long as you can tell me how to get to Hotland and it's not too far out of the way."

To this, the sixteen-year-old perked up almost instantly and nodded in enthusiasm while clasping their hands together. "Okee!" They turned to the path up ahead, the one Temmie had just gone down, and shoved their hands back into their pockets. "Just head down there. There's some puzzles. All you gotta do is play along."

"Are you certain it's safe?" the former-human asked, cocking his head to the side and placing both hands on his hips.

Frisk nodded. "Like I said, temmies don't hurt people. She's just trying to feed her family. Seeing a human other than me for once would make her day, and she hasn't seen too many before, sooo...you'll do fine."

"If you're certain," he muttered, turning around to continue onward. This place was so strange… though he had to admit, it was a lot less dangerous than Chara had made it out to be. If most of the "monsters" out here were like that weird cat-dog thing (temmie?), there wasn't much to be afraid of. Maybe having his ears bleed, but otherwise, nothing to worry over.

"Thank you!" Frisk called out after Mettaton and then turned back the way they came, making way for the Ruins door.

As soon as Mettaton has spotted another reflective stone that gave off enough light to write with, he sat himself down beside it and began jotting down everything that he had experienced up until this point, sparing no detail from his well-loved journal.

 _*The experience with the lamppost...it rekindles your perseverance._

* * *

 **Lotta stuff.**

 **I'm sorry to the person (a guest) who said that Frisk was Mettaton.** Especially if it felt like an attack or something. I dunno. It did to me. Thing is, misinformation is one of the things I hate most in the world. I do what I can to correct mistakes and misunderstandings as quickly as possible so that people are correctly informed. I hope you're not hurt.

 **I know some people had been looking forward to Hapstablook and Napstablook as Papyrus and Sans.** Sorry, but...there's no hostless Hapstablook. The equation put Mettaton (Happy-poo) as Frisk, and, well, I needed to find a way to make it work someone. Since the SOULs weren't inputted into the equation...those are my liberties.

 **There's going to be a crap-ton of stuff going on in my life.** School starts tomorrow, I'll be getting my learner's permit for driving soon, still gotta deal with emotional stuff on top of stress from school work, I may be starting a martial arts class soon...ug. But I'll still try to update on Sunday evenings (around 18:00 - 20:00 EST). Keyword is try.

 **Reviews!**

Oh my gosh, you guys make me so happy~! Chapter seven I'm pretty proud of, so you guys enjoying it...yay! Chapter eight was a rather sudden change in atmosphere, I know... switching muses is difficult. Tempyrus is a good muse, but not as good as Demon Mom. Still, though, hopefully my writing style will adapt for some "Temtrousle" and "frisk." Thank you guys so much for sticking with me for eight chapters, and thank you for all your kind words. Those are the main things that keep me going.

 **Guest who reviewed on ch. 1 saying that Alphys is Chara:** Well...you're not wrong!

 **Aria:** Only be spared when they have low health? Are you referring to Asgore? Because I've played through the game before, and he's the only one I actually had to fight.

 **NoItsBecky:** Already talked about YTT in a PM, but as for the rest...the personalities are the fun parts! As for Fishy the Fish... ;3

 **CK:** Well, I already talk to you on the forum, but it's still impressive to see that much thought poured into a comment. Thank you!

 **Tatzebea:** What's wrong with Chara x Mettataticate? ;3 ...well, the fact that it'd most definitely be a crack pairing. But! Other than that! They're both nineteen. I approve. AndmaybesodoesCharaalittlebitshhhh.

 **Teh Esprite:** ;3


	9. I Don't Remember

"FRISK! Wot if ur dad gets here?"

Mettaton froze once he heard the female 12-year-old sounding voice from before, eyes darting upward to be certain it was her. What he witnessed was Temmie twirling her head around and then pausing, eyes wide and directed on Mettaton, then turning back to Frisk in shock.

Frisk took a quick glance over at the robot as well, their neutral face quite present, and gave him a curt nod in greeting. This was followed by looking up at Tem.

"Frisk…" Tem muttered, though her voice was loud enough that the robot could easily hear her. "Is dat...HOOMAN!?"

"Uh…" Her roommate took a long look at Mettaton, glancing the robot up and down and throwing in a shrug for good measure. "I think that's a robot."

"...Oh."

During this, the robot had remained still, his breath being caught and only exhaling upon hearing Frisk's words. It did confuse him, but he figured that perhaps it was part of the "playing along," and that he'd be revealed later on, perhaps closer to the puzzles.

Though, after a moment, the living human frowned and turned back to Tem. "hey, look at his SOUL."

Tem's eyes then drew down to the lower abdomen, where a purple glow emitted in the shape of a heart. The light was dimmer than usual, though still rather bright, and if it weren't for the fact that it was purple, Mettaton might still be able to use it as a source to write in his journal. But _purple_ light wouldn't do!

"Frisk…" she muttered to them. "Is...dat a hooman sOUL?"

When they nodded, her face lit back up nearly as bright as the SOUL and Temmie found herself bouncing with excitement. Her front paws were squished against the sides of her chests while her back ones continued to push off the pavement. "EEEEEEE! FRISK! FRISK FRISK FRISK FRISK FRISK FRISK FRISK!"

The human chuckled, removing one hand from the pocket to cover their mouth before letting their expression fall neutral once more and placing the appendage back into their coat. They then glanced over at Tem and tilted their head.

"I found...HOOMAN! I FOUND HOOMAN FRISK! An not frisk hooman either OH SKELE-DAD GUNNA SEE DIS N TEMMIE FINALLY GUNNA GET 2 BE IN ROYAL GUARD AN DEN SHE GONNA GET GUD MUNS!"

Tem turned back to the robot, placing her feet wide apart, one hand on her hip, and extending the other arm as far as she could to point to him. "HOOMAN! U shall not pass!"

"-gas," Frisk muttered, though it was either too quiet for Temmie to pick up on, or, the more likely option, she had chosen to ignore it.

"I," Tem continued, "da formitemble TEMMIE, will sTPO u!"

She brought in one foot so that there was less space between her legs, moved the arm that pointed out instead to her chest, and closed her eyes in a proud fashion. "I will capture u. U will den be sent 2 da Capital. Den, DEN-!"

Mettaton felt his breath hitch as his attention shifted to the human beside the tem. All he got in return was a small shrug and an expression of uncaring.

"...I dunno wat'll happen," Temmie said, opening up her eyes and letting her shoulders drop. It almost seemed like she was guilty about this, though with some thought, Mettaton decided that that wasn't the case. He wouldn't feel guilty, after all.

She shook her head. "N E WAY! hooman, continu ONLY IF U DARE!" With that, Mettaton watched her race up ahead.

Frisk chuckled. They, too, kept their eyes on their roommate for a little to make sure she was out of earshot before glancing back at the robot. "hey, don't sweat it. I'll be sure to _stick_ to my promise."

They waved the same branch that had been attached to the end of the faux appendage before hurrying after their friend.

However, continuing along the same direction the other two had went down (after checking out the path to the north, of course...there wasn't much of interest), Mettaton had to stop again not too long from the spot he had been nearly assaulted at. A small clearing appeared to the side of him. Not as large as the one with the lamppost, no, but at least wide enough to hold...was that a dog bed?

 _*There's a little plaque on the bed,_ he heard Alphys say in an amused tone, though looking around, it seemed as though she was still not visible. Her voice then raised drastically in pitch, though only slightly more so in volume, in an attempt to mimic that strange tem.

 _*U upserve da cOOTE! sentry station. who couldve built dis, u punder?_

 _I'm pretty sure I have an idea,_ Mettaton thought to himself with a shake of his head as he crossed his arms.

 _*I bet it wus dat reelly famus royal guardstem!_

Alphys hesitated a moment, he could hear, and let out a slight nervous chuckle before continuing.

 _*(Note: Not yet reelly famus or royal guardstem)_

The robot rolled his eyes, let his arms fall back at his sides, and continued on, only to be stopped again by another sign not so shortly after. This one, quite similar to Temmie's doggy bed, appeared to have handwriting scribbled on by a small child.

 _*Please move around,_ Alphys read as Mettaton scanned over the words. _I can't see if you don't._

He then heard Alphys let out a small "Awww…" of touching sympathy, and he could just imagine her bringing her hands up to her chest. It was oblivious to him what was so endearing, but it hardly mattered. The robot simply carried on.

Well, that is, until he caught something from the corner of his eye.

Beside Mettaton stood a well put-together sentry station, unlike the one Temmie had built. He thought nothing of it at first, but glancing to the side, was able to see a small bunny child rising up from behind the counter with glazed-over eyes that seemed fixated on one point.

"Did...something move?" the bunny rabbit asked in a voice that only proved to reassure Mettaton of somewhere close to the kid's age. "Or was it my imagination…? Because I can only see things that move…"

The rabbit paused, leaning forward a bit. "And if something DID move, like a human…"

It was at this point that Mettaton turned around to examine the kid closer. Upon finding the child's eyes widen, he took a small step back. Oh, wait, he moved. It wasn't like the kid was going to do much though, was he? Probably not. The guy was just a kid, after all…

What he saw next was the child reaching for a wooden sword hanging along the station's interior before leaping over the counter in one swift movement and charging toward Mettaton full-speed.

"Mommy told me to make sure it NEVER MOVED AGAIN!"

Once again, Mettaton found his heart popping out of his chest and he drew his arm immediately to the 'ACT' button.

 _*Kiff blocks the way,_ he heard Alphys say as that heart made its way to the 'Check' option.

 _*Kiff- Attack 6, Defense 1_

 _The little blind boy whose mother used to run the inn._

Blind? Mettaton turned around. Now, wait a moment. You can't just go dropping something like that in the middle of a bat-

"Ow!" Mettaton cried as he felt the child wack his leg with the wooden sword. He reflexively swung the appendage up to rub the sore spot while glaring down at the child, who bounced up in the air.

"Moving!?" he exclaimed and swiveled his head around. "I saw moving! I heard moving!"

 _*...Kiff is confirming the moving object._

With a small sigh, Mettaton brought his leg back down and reached out to pat the child's head.

 _*Kiff is...too suspicious of your movements_ , Alphys stated when the rabbit hopped back a bit and made another charge forward.

This time, however, Mettaton froze in place and watched as the child ran straight past him. A few more steps, and a confused expression wiped over him.

Now when Mettaton reached out to pet the child's head, Kiff stood still, though his eyes widened and he gasped. "Something pet me! Something pet me...and it's not moving!"

"I…" Well, he was still technically moving… though perhaps it only counted if his legs moved?

Either way, the rabbit child wrapped his arms around his chest and hopped back over the sentry station's counter, a look of terror written on his face. "Something pet me...and it didn't move…"

Mettaton then watched the child scoot down behind the counter and out of sight.

He shook his head, hips swaying as he moved forward and muttered to himself, "This place is so weird…"

"I-it gets better," Alphys assured, though he still was unable to locate her no matter how much his eyes glanced around. The pair made their way around a small set of trees, and he continued as a clearing came into view.

"Alphys, you really need to be visible if you want me to talk-"

"Who're you talkin' to?" a voice asked as the figure that was associated with it stepped out in front of him. A moment of deja vu washed over him, but only for a brief moment. The rest of the time was spent jumping backward, and then realizing that the person who had so rudely stepped in front of him was none other than the human from before.

"Frisk, Jesus… Do you really enjoy startling people like that?"

They chuckled, offering him a shrug in response and stuffing their hands into their coat pockets. "I just wanted to warn ya of something. A little advice to _freeze_ your mind."

Mettaton assumed that was supposed to be a pun on "ease your mind" and simply rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, what is it?"

"Blue attacks. They won't hurt you if you don't move. Kinda like what you did back there with that kid. Did you notice his sword was glowing a bit blue?"

The robot blinked a few times, tilting his head to the side. "You saw that?"

Frisk nodded and allowed a smile to make its way onto their face while leaning inward a bit. "Cute."

"Excuse me?"

"It was cute," they explained. The human then began to make their way past Mettaton, reaching out a hand to pat his arm as they passed and stopping momentarily to do so. "I gotta go catch up with Temmie now. See ya around?"

"See me around? Darling, you spoke to me for two seconds. Is that all you wanted to tell me about?"

Frisk's eyes trailed upward. They leaned onto one foot while shoving their hands back in their pockets, but then shook their head. If there was something important, they could just come back. It wasn't like there were many places for Mettaton to get lost.

With a small sigh, the robot shook his head. "Fine, fine...but if Temmie is behind me, I'm not backtracking just to "play" with her."

"She's not behind you," they replied, and hurried off before Mettaton could get in another word.

The robot decided not to pursue the cause. It seemed like a pointless effort, judging by Frisk's nonchalant attitude towards most things he's witnessed. Instead, he continued onward, though a few steps more and Mettaton found himself slipping on solid ice, which had switched quite suddenly from the soft snow he had found himself accustomed to. The heels on his shoes disagreed with such a switch and the robot was then flung forward after a few moments of attempting to balance himself, and those were followed by his arms flying out in front of him to stop him from falling on his face. Those were the _only_ things that prevented such a collision, as the rest of his body had already fallen and Mettaton let out a small groan while attempting to stand.

That attempt simply caused him to slide along the slippery surface more, all the way to the end of ice. His arms were flailing about at his sides as he slid, though it did work to some degree, as our protagonist was at least able to keep upright for that time.

Upon reaching the snow once more, Mettaton stumbled into it, spreading his legs apart to keep from toppling over.

"A-aren't you gonna read the sign?" he heard Alphys ask from somewhere nearby, but Mettaton shook his head.

"Oh, you mean the sign back there? The one I'd have to traverse such a harsh terrain to reach? No thank you, I think I'll keep my balance."

"Uh...o-okay…" Alphys rubbed one hand along the other as she continued forward, though winced when she heard a loud "FRISK!"

Mettaton didn't jump this time (something he was somewhat proud of). He frowned, lowered his head a bit and scampered forward in the direction of the noise.

It wasn't long before two figures came into view: one being that of a short human in bulky coat, the other of a white cat-dog anthro that appeared to be somewhat upset, though if Mettaton was reading her correctly, she seemed less so than when he had first met her. The two were facing each other again, and the human, as usual, didn't appear to care in the least.

"How dare u make mee nap all night in dat STOOPID DOGGEE BED! I MAde da sentret station 4 a raisin!"

Frisk didn't even move as far as the robot was concerned. They simply stared at the anthro with a blank look and spoke with a dead tone. "I think that's sleeping."

"I DUN CARE WAT IT I-!"

Mettaton cleared his throat- or what he could, anyway, and was honestly a bit surprised he could still do that- causing the two to glance over in his direction. It was quite obvious when Tem's face lit up upon noticing his presence, and she proceeded to let out a small squeal.

"HOOMAN!" Her eyes practically glistened in the little light that was available underground. "U HERE! yaYU! Frisk n I made Frisk n I made PUZZLEZ 4 you 2 solve!"

Her eyes turned down to the open area in front of her...well, it would have been open, had it not been for the fencing that encased it. The robot noted that it appeared to be a maze of some kind, though one that looked rather simple for someone of his intellect.

"Dis is dee INVISBLE FENCES! U have 2 go threw dem!"

"Uh, Tem, I don't think they are…" Mettaton turned his attention to the human beside her, whose eyes appeared to be covered by a shadow, their hands buried in their pockets. Their neck was crooked to the side and their body stiff, though despite this, it was believed that their gaze was centered on the robot in a less-than-friendly manner.

"Dun believe wot?"

He paused for a moment, bringing his hands up slightly and shaking his head. "It's nothing." He really didn't feel like dealing with an angry Frisk for simply disproving the tem's claim.

Tem's smile returned, though. She bounced a bit, paws thumping against the floor as her body vibrated with excitement. The human beside her allowed a smile to pass over them as they saw this display before turning their attention back onto the robot on the other side.

"Say, Tem," Frisk asked while their back slumped a small bit. "How do you think he'll be able to get past this maze?"

"WEEEELL… U cant get a round it an u cant go streight threw fence..."

Temmie narrowed her eyes when they had caught sight of Mettaton once again after focusing on the wooden barriers. "NU! NU HINTS! But I tell u wat happen if u dun make it!"

By this point Mettaton was practically straining not to roll his eyes. Honestly, if it weren't for that odd intimidation Frisk was capable of, he probably would anyway. ...Not because he was scared or anything! And certainly not of someone who appears ten, no less! But he still would rather avoid making them upset, if only to prevent them from potentially crying. Yes, that's why, obviously. Mettaton was such a nice guy.

There was a moment of silence. The two human SOULs held their gaze on the vibrating tem patiently. When she simply smiled at the robot and continued to rapidly move in place, said robot would frown even further and place a hand against his hip while shifting to the side. "Well?"

"Well wot?"

"What happens if I don't make it?"

"OH!" Temmie then leaped into the air, her front paws leading as she sprung over the gate and into the maze. "U just gotta get thru da maze n den u win!1!"

Mettaton would then groan.

 _Don't facepalm. Don't facepalm. Don't facepalm..._

"OKEE! U can go now!"

Our protagonist decided to ignore Frisk's chuckling as he lifted one leg up over part of the fence. Honestly, he could probably solve this himself, but his legs seemed to be a lot more flexible lately, and with how easy it was to simply step over them, why bother?

It didn't take long to get close to the end, and when he did, Mettaton could hear a loud gasp come from the temmie's gaping mouth and immediately after she let out a cry of, "WOAH! U got thru da maze!"

His gaze soon met hers and he mimicked the audible breath of air once it was noted that her eyes had quite literally popped out of her skull. Not hanging from a strand of nerve tissue like in horror movies, no (though it might as well be from one), but instead, they had inflated like balloons. It was nearly enough to make Mettaton cringe. Only sheer willpower could keep him from appearing so weak in front of others, and considering how Frisk barely even shifted their weight, he was certainly glad to have caught himself.

"CONGRA-TEM-LATIONS!" Temmie exclaimed as she glomped the robot. Unfortunately for her, her weight wasn't nearly enough to knock over the metal man, and unfortunately for him, he was too busy returning the gesture (once proven safe, of course) to notice Frisk tense. It was a bit hard to read them as it was, so even if he was watching them, it might not have mattered anyway. They seemed fine once Temmie had let go, however, and even smiled again as their temmate returned to their side.

"U iz 2 smurt 4 da maze," the temmate said with a small giggle. "But wait 4 next puzzle! Is reeeeelly harder!"

"I'm sure it will be." This response was accompanied with a small raise of the eyebrows, Mettaton's hand falling back onto his hip. Harder, sure. Definitely. He wasn't honestly that concerned with what this _thing_ threw at him at the moment. She seemed a bit too...ah, what was the word?...unintelligent to actually do much that posed as a challenge.

Temmie nodded. "Frisk designs it! Is gunna be soooooo hard! I dun even no wat it is!"

"Oh?" The eyebrows shifted from one being half-raised to both climbing up his forehead as far as they could go while his eyes took a quick glance over at the human before settling back down on the tem beside them. "Frisk made it?"

"Mmhmm! An Tem dun even no solushun, so u gunna have hard tem!"

She then turned around, dropping onto all fours and trotting happily down the snowy path.

"hey."

Mettaton turned his attention away from the strange cat-dog abomination over to the human that had been standing beside her. His expression fell from a mix of surprise and confusion to match the neutral one being held on Frisk's. Their smile appeared to have vanished, though they didn't seem too upset either. He was starting to think that this blank look was the norm for them. Strange coming for someone who turned half of their sentences into flirting during the first meeting.

"thanks."

How strange. Frisk seemed to have gotten quieter than before, and it left Mettaton to tilt his head. Sure, they might need to talk a bit louder with Temmie around just to be heard, but this was different. Their voice was...softer. Less dull, even. It was quite a change, enough to make Mettaton pause for a moment.

"Oh, you're welcome, darling," he replied, though blinked. "Might I ask for what?"

They let a small smile tug the corners of their lips, just barely enough for the other to make out. "for playing along. she seems so happy...it's a nice change."

"Oh!" He nodded. "You're quite welcome. I'm happy to help!"

Well, that was only partially true. He was happy to get to Hotland, and Frisk promised to help if he'd play along. So, he supposed, that could be considered to be happy to help.

Frisk moved their hands about in their pockets and spread their legs out a slight bit more, the smile creeping further onto their face. "You see Tem's collar?"

"Huh? I guess."

"She said a guard gave it to her." They glanced to the side. Just more giant cliff… They'd rather not lean on that. "He made one for all of her family in return for her teaching him her secrets of trade. Isn't that cool?"

Secrets of trade? Oh boy. He wasn't sure how well Tem could run a shop, but if it was anything like how she made puzzles, he wasn't sure he'd care to. So he simply shrugged.

Frisk's smile dropped at this, however. A shrug could mean anything… Was he saying Tem wasn't cool? Because that's not cool. He better chill out.

With a small sigh, the human shook their head. Fine, fine. Everyone has their own opinion, even if it's wrong.

"Right, well…" Mettaton took a look over at the narrow pathway hanging above the cliff. Jeez, he was supposed to cross that? "...I'd better get going. Don't want to be unfashionably late."

Frisk nodded. He waved them goodbye, but they still watched him. He backed away, and they still watched him. Crossing the pathway, still watching him. The only time Mettaton was _certain_ he had lost their gaze was when he had made his way around a group of trees, and even then…

"They sure are strange," he muttered to himself as he brought his arms up to his chest. Maybe he should ask Frisk if they knew where to get a spare coat. The former human was starting to worry that his metal might crack.

Those thoughts were ripped away from him at the sound of a small sigh. He turned his attention to what appeared to be an...ice cream cart? In the middle of a snowy forest? What kind of person would have an ice cream cart in the middle of- ...is that a skeleton?

He took a few steps forward, leaning out with his arms tucked tightly against his chest, and examined the skeleton that stood in front of such an unusual business practice. "Um, hello?"

"I don't understand why these aren't selling…" he heard the man mutter, watching as his shoulder(bones?) drooped. "I could have sworn our catchphrase would have attracted some people, even if it _is_ just ice cream…"

This man, from what Mettaton could remember of anatomy class, appeared to be in the skeleton equivalent of late forties, though it was rather difficult to tell when all you had to go off of was the shape of the bones.

Speaking of which, our protagonist might not be an expert on the human body (even less so now that he had none), but he was fairly certain that people didn't have gigantic holes where their palms were. Yet, here he was, his eyes being drawn down to this man's lack of palms. Just two gaping holes… He wasn't sure if there were any others, as most of this stranger's figure was cloaked in a long black robe. The only things visible _were_ the hands and the head, the latter of which was pointed at the floor.

"Excuse me?" Mettaton called again as he took a small step forward and reached his arm out. That was quickly retracted, however, when the head from before perked up with a sudden energy and he heard in a deep, stern voice,

"Oh, a customer! Hello, would you care for some ice- er, Nice Cream?"

"Nice Cream?" Now that was just a strange name. Being out in the middle of a snowy forest, though, that was probably one of the lesser oddities.

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "It's the frozen treat that warms your heart, and for only fifteen gold."

Fifteen gold? Jesus, that was more than the doughnut those Temmies sold him! ...Never mind the fact that it was made of paper. "I'm afraid I don't have the money for that."

"Ah, I see…"

Seeing this man's shoulders droop again caused the robot to frown (again...he really should stop doing that; it might freeze that way) and lean forward. "I have to wonder, why are you selling it all the way out here?" Y'know, Hotland seemed like a nice place to sell ice cream in. He was assuming that it fit the name trend of being overly-blatant, anyway. Though the ice cream might melt, too…

The man rested one hand against the cart, looking at it for a but a moment before turning back to Mettaton. "Oh, I'm doing this for a friend. He always wanted to sell ice cream and make some kids happy. I believe he used to live around here…"

"A friend?" That's awfully sweet of him. ...Ignore that pun. Mettaton is. He's more focused on the current conversation. "Who?"

Though this seemed to cause the man to tense. He took a step back and leaned away while pressing his (lack of) palm harder against the container's metal top."Who?"

A few blinks followed. Little white specks in the middle of his eye sockets danced about while those sockets widened slightly. If he could breath, he'd probably be doing so a bit faster now, though a skeleton wouldn't need such a thing. This stranger merely locked his jaw in place. It was as if Mettaton had just asked him about something invasive, such as cheating on a spouse or allowing something important to slip from his memory, though neither of the two were quite sure of what.

"I don't remember."

* * *

 **Well, I think I'm at least getting a bit better at this.**

It's still difficult switching muses, but... I think I'm getting the hang of it! And I looked a bit more into characterization and how characters can compliment each other, so maybe if I pull off Alphys right...hopefully her and Mettaton will feed off of each other. If only she stays in a frame long enough for that to happen...

 **So, I have a poll on my profile.** Feel free to check that out. Relevant to everyone, I can guarantee you that. The question itself is just a simple yes or no question asking whether or not you listen to music while reading fanfiction. I want to see if recommending more songs while reading EquationTale would be beneficial or not.

 **I'm thinking about opening an EquationTale ask.** Ah, my last ask actually did quite nicely! That was, um...that was for FNaF, and that's closed now, so you don't need to worry about it. But now I want to know if I should open one again, perhaps? It'd be on both the EquationTale tumblr and my Deviantart, KuraiTsukiMajutsu. What do you guys think?

 **Nooooow for reviews!**

 **EveeFan:** That...would certainly be interesting. Don't worry, though. I tried to make as much sense of their positions as I can. While technically not random, it certainly seems that way...but I think I managed to tie them together alright, even if I had to take some liberties, such as the Blook cousins being humans. So, uh, the creature in Temmie's place can in fact multiply...kind of. Guess I got lucky there...

As for character connections, yes, most of them are the same. Alphys still built Mettaton, Chara and Asriel are still adopted siblings, Toriel and Asgore...well, their relationship is already pretty complicated, isn't it? Guess that didn't change either. Pap and Sans are still brothers, Pap still looks up to Undyne...or, well...used to... And Undyne and Alphys, heh...

 **Tatzebea:** Niiiice. To be frank, I think writing this story made me kind of sort of ship them a little bit but kind of only a little heh!

Are you satisfied with Temmie's reaction?

 **Aria:** Of course you know something! Otherwise, would you have even commented? Besides, it doesn't matter much anyway. I won't be focusing too much on the random encounters. Really only enough to effectively get Alphys's, uh, "problems" across.

Doctor Papyrus...we'll have to wait and see ;3

 **NoItsBecky:** Hm...interesting.

Frisk x Temmie = Tisk.

What's wrong with Tisk?

TiskTisk.

Thatmightbeareferencenowcookiestothepeoplethatspotit.

 **TO THE PERSON THAT REVIEWED 'MLG' SEVERAL TIMES ON THE FIRST CHAPTER:**

Please don't.


	10. She hasn't asked to use his lasers yet

**I'm putting this at the top because I think it's important.** I almost missed today's cut off. Just want to let you guys know, in case that does end up happening some week...um, I don't have summer vacation anymore. I have school work...and school...which means a lot less time to do this stuff, and even when I do have time...not gonna lie, I'm drained.

I'm still trying to hit that Sunday evening, 18:00 - 20:00 EST mark, but just in case I miss one week, don't worry. Chances are, everything's fine. I'll just upload the chapter the following week. If you're really worried, feel free to PM me, or check the UnderTale forum (I'm the admin of the very first one; it even has my profile pic as the picture so it's hard to miss).

* * *

He groaned again as the ball of snow collapsed against cold, hard ice. It'd been the second time this happened, and Mettaton's hands were clenched shut as he stomped back to the beginning.

"Unbelievable!" he cried, once more bending down to scoop up some more snow and pack it into a ball. The snow was cold against his metal, but he didn't flinch. The heat of his emotions would counter it, surely.

When he was finished he plopped it on the floor like a sack of meat before delivering a firm blow with his foot, sending it spiraling across the ice, and Mettaton stomped his heels down into the cracks to hurry after it. Third try. Third try _had_ to do the trick! It was a charm, after all. It needed to-

"No, no, no!"

Another kick was set loose and the ball would smash against one of the sides of the rink, causing it to retrace the path it had gone. It was already significantly smaller than before, and he felt much less resistance when kicking it a final time. Then, collapse.

"Deep breath, Meck...Mettaton," the robot muttered to himself, bringing his hands up and then eased them back down to help steady his breathing. "You got this. We're going to go back to what you did in science class."

The robot reached for another scoop beside the sheet of ice, giving it a small toss once it was compact together and observing the path that it followed. He waited for the ball to skid to a halt before jogging toward it and delivering another kick.

"Uh...Mettaton?"

He heard a feminine-sounding voice beside him and assumed the ghost dino had decided to come into view, however did not bother to look away from the snowball that yet again was sent flying towards a large sheet of even smoother ice than the one Mettaton was currently stomping on just to stay upright.

"Not now, darling. I'm trying to concentrate."

"But…" The woman rubbed her hands over top of each other, eyes darting once on the floor and then bouncing back up at the robot for a moment before glancing over at the side. "...I don't see why you need to keep, um, kicking it around like that."

"Well what _else_ do you expect me to do?" he snapped back, placing his hands on his hips as his eyes trailed after the frozen ball. It began dispersing already, he noticed, and quickly rushed after it, giving another decisive hit and watching it leave behind a snowy trail. This was all starting to seem rather pointless…

Alphys shrugged. "What are you trying to do?"

With a small sigh, the robot shook his head, deciding to leave a small break in order to make his way for the hole in the ice that he was _so close_ to. A metallic hand was extended towards it and he directed his eyesight to the ghost dino to make sure she was paying attention.

"This. I'm trying to get the snowball into this. There has to be a way of doing it…"

In response to this, the woman found herself staring absentmindedly at the hole and blinking. "...Why?"

"Why?" Mettaton frowned, his eyes squinting a small bit as his nose scrunched. " _Why?_ Well why _not?_ "

"Because...there's more things we should be worrying about."

With a frustrated growl, the robot gave a small kick to the snow and then proceeded to scoff, crossing his arms. "I refuse to be beaten by such a tedious game! If you wish to go on ahead, then fine, but-"

"W...why don't you just toss it in?"

"What?"

The scientist made her way to the side of the game, picking up a small piece of snow and packing it into some sort of awkward shape with a smile. That smile faded, however, when after a few moments, the solid object dropped through her hands and landed back at her feet. In honesty, it was surprising she'd been able to build a robot when her physical interactive capabilities were so weak.

It didn't matter. Mettaton would shake his head even if she could do it, letting out a small 'tisk tisk' noise and, "Well now that would be _cheating._ "

"But…" She chuckled a little, bringing up one hand to her mouth as her eye glanced to the side. "...i-it'd get the same result, and you'd be able to proceed with whatever it is you're trying to do…"

Our protagonist trailed his eyes over the snow left in his previous attempts' path, the snowdrops that were beginning to pile up before him. Soon, he might be able to step in snow despite the hard ice beneath him. There were only so many times one could try…

"Fine," Mettaton said with a small sigh. He scooped another handful of snow, feeling it crunch between his palms, before approaching the hole and giving it a small toss. It plopped in without much resistance, and despite him taking a shortcut, he could feel a smile slip onto his face. Perhaps not one of accomplishment, but the win still boosted his sense of pride. Because Lord knows he could use more of that.

A purple pole popped out of the hole, much to the surprise of either of the two. At the end of it was a matching flag, which lie flat against the side of its holder. They approached it curiously. There was a small bit of writing, but the neatly printed sentence at the top was crossed out. Originally, the flag would have read, " _Even when you felt trapped, you took notes and achieved the end of 'Ball',"_ but instead, in rushed scribbles underneath the line read, "oh...you weren't supposed to throw it in…" The latter was clearly fresh, and it caused the robot to tilt his head to the side while the dinosaur squinted her eyes at it.

"Well," Mettaton said after a moment of silence as he ran his hand through his hair, "I certainly wasn't expecting that."

When he felt his companion give his shirt fabric a small tug before jumping behind him, Mettaton then turned his attention toward where her eyes were pointed, though all he could visibly see was snow, and this only proved to further his confusion.

"Yes, darling? What is it?"

"Th-there's another...ghost…"

He strained his magenta eyes, but no matter how hard our protagonist tried, there was nothing his scanners could pick up on. Hm...what did they do on those silly ghost hunting shows? Something with thermal detection, right?

"Alphys, does this have some kind of heat sensor?"

His nervous system was able to tell him that his builder then halted shaking, though her hold didn't loosen and she was still cowering behind his metal.

Her voice was weak when she spoke, only barely loud enough for him to hear. "Uh...I didn't have enough materials for something like that. Your nighttime vision might be able to pick up something, but...it's really shaky. I-It's not even in alpha yet…I didn't have the time to finish it."

In response, he shrugged. "We'll see then. How do you turn it on?"

"Just, um...h-hold your eyes closed for a couple of seconds and it should go…" Alphys took a quick glance over at the generic ghost figure as she spoke. In honesty, it looked a lot like Toriel, though even blander and with white eyes instead of red, a black outline around each. It seemed to have been retreating further into Snowdin's woods, but at the sound of Alphys's voice, stopped. She didn't think it caught sight of her yet, judging from how it was now floating there, staring at Mettaton, but she couldn't be too sure.

There was a moment of silence as Mettaton shut his eyes, took a deep breath in, and counted to ten before opening them again. What he saw was best described as...well, he wasn't sure. A dream, perhaps. He might have compared it to being on drugs, but Meckenzie wouldn't dare hurt his body with those, so he couldn't be sure about them. Most of his surroundings seemed to have disappeared, though any spots of snow that were reflecting light still stayed. There was only blackness otherwise, save for a blue heart hovering about a foot or two away from the flagpole. A nice, soft, true blue- his cousin's favorite- with a white ring around the outside, but it was definitely blue, definitely a heart, and definitely floating.

The robot barely had time to turn around and get a quick view of Alphys (who was nothing but a white heart at that point, several cracks inside of her that were flaked with red) before his vision began returning to normal, snow and trees slowly fading back into sight. It caused him to blink a bit. Thankfully his mind was quick to adapt to the experience, though it was still...interesting, to say the least. However, when he turned his attention back to the area the blue heart had been floating, he saw nothing.

"S-so, uh…" Alphys stared at the robot for a second or so before shooting her eyes over at the other specter and then down at the floor before ending back on the robot. "...how'd it go?"

"I...think we'll need to work on that. I saw what you meant, though."

She nodded. "It's, um, they're just staring at us."

"Could you talk to them?"

"I...could…" Though judging by the drop in her voice, it became apparent to Mettaton that she really would rather avoid speaking with anyone at the moment, let alone some stranger who just so happened to have crossed their path.

The ghost took another glance at her terror and relaxed a small bit when she noticed that this strange, shapeless being began floating down the path. What caught her attention was something she hadn't been able to see from the front, though; a little puppy tail seemed to be sticking out of the back of it, wagging excitedly to accompany the tiny ears at the top, which were so small that it was almost impossible to differentiate them from the rest of the ghost.

"It's leaving," she breathed in relief. Toriel was a boss monster, so her SOUL would be sticking around for a while, and Alphys...well, she wasn't entirely sure how she remained intact, though she did remember feeling rather strange afterwards...unfortunately for her, there wasn't much she could interact with, so testing was out of the question… Perhaps the ghost she had just encountered was experiencing the same thing? It seemed like it could interact with the flag, somehow, and whatever it wrote with, assuming that it was the one to write on said flag, but it didn't have any arms…

The scientist was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed her robot companion already a few feet in front of her and turning back to wait.

"Well?"

"Uh...w-well what?"

Mettaton rolled his eyes, arching his back a bit to puff his chest out as he let his arms drop. "Are we moving on, or are you going to continue to stand there and watch the snow melt?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, hurrying forward with her stubby little feet and hastening her breath. It was still found an oddity to her that she could breath, but that was a thought her mind had made dormant for quite some time. "R-right!"

Though, it wasn't long before Mettaton had caught sight of a particular cat-dog and human, and when he did, he felt his hands moving out in front of him, palms face up.

"HOOMAN!"

His eyes skidded off of the tem rather quickly, much preferring to direct their attention to the paper on the ground. Was this another puzzle? He certainly hoped not. They were starting to get a bit dull already…

"I HOPE UR RED-EE FUR DA PUZ-!"

Temmie froze, however, her eyes following the trail that Mettaton's had made and frowning immensely at the sight. Though, it looked more of a pout than anything, and her eyes drooped a bit more in disappointment than sorrow.

"Uh...Frisk? Where da puzzle?"

"Hm. I dunno, Tem," the human beside her said as they let a small smirk cross over them. "This seems pretty _puzzling_."

She growled, shaking her head and taking a step forward. "FINE! If u no tell where puzzle is, den me an hooman will find it ourselfs!"

They shook their head, biting back a chuckle. "C'mon, I wouldn't want you getting caught up in the _cross_ fire."

"HOW IS DAT EVEN A PUN!?"

Mettaton sighed as he watched Frisk shrug and emit a chuckle. What was he even supposed to say to that? Never mind that the attention wasn't on him currently. It would be in a short bit, and he was already getting sick of these jokes…

"Well, I mean...the puzzle's a crossword." They closed their eyes, shoulders freezing in the shrugging motion as high as they could go so that they were nearly touching Frisk's cheeks. "Not the best pun, but we can't all be like Dad."

"I dun-!" Temmie cut herself off, words jumbling in her mind and sticking in her mouth as she tried to force them out. Her body swiveled around so that the angle was mostly in line with Frisk's- just an inch or so off- and her knees bent. Two furry arms followed this motion by extending out as far as they could go with elbows in the same position as her knees. "Y WUD U USE A CROSSWORD AS DA PUZZLE!?"

"I dunno. I thought it'd be fun. They can get pretty challenging."

Tem scoffed. Her back straightened and once more did her feet twirl so that she now faced the newest "human" to the Underground. With arms crossed, Temmie's attention redirected back where it began. "Ug. Im sorry 4 my frend's lazeness. Obviusly ur gunna find da crossword easy. All u gotta do is fill in da boxs with 'tem'!"

Mettaton raised an eyebrow at this, his hand moving to his hip, which jutted out while the other arm hung lazily against his side. "Tem?"

She nodded, not bothering to explain why (he figured she was almost as vain as she was an idiot), and again returning her expression to a cutesy-looking cat face of sorts. "U shuld've used da junor jumble. I agree wit Papyrus. Is a lot harder den crossword!"

Frisk's face fell from a neutral expression (plus their smirk) to squinted eyes and a tight mouth, the look of "Really?" being sprawled all over it. Their nonverbal question went unanswered, however, as their temmate sprung into the air with a small giggle.

"N E WAY! Imma go make da next puzzle now 'kay BOI!"

Mettaton, this time, didn't even bother to try speaking to her. He doubted that she would pause and come back to answer, nor did he really care to talk to someone of _that_ intelligence… He simply shook his head and strutted forward until the other human was within about a foot or two.

"What was _that_ about?"

They shrugged once more. "Temmie gets a lot of her puzzle ideas from Papyrus… Yesterday I caught him teaching her how to "solve" the horoscope…"

"Solve the...horoscope?" Mettaton leaned forward, pointing one foot out as he did so. What? But...that doesn't…

"She hasn't asked to use his lasers yet, so I'm okay with this."

"Lasers?"

Alphys, though unseen, couldn't help but poke her head up at the sound of that. Since when did Papyrus have lasers? She hadn't remembered Undyne mentioning anything about that when they trained together. The only lasers she could really think of in the first place were at her lab…

"Yeah...at least she's not _lase_ -in' around, eh? Eh?"

They pointed at Mettaton with both fingers, a broad smile on their face and even throwing in a wink, which just made the robot bring his palm to his face and sigh.

"I'm going to be going ahead now. Do catch up, alright?"

Frisk, giving a nod as reply, shoved their hands into their pockets and then trotted off in the opposite direction, back the way that Mettaton had already came.

"Alphys?" he called out when they were far enough gone that his eyes could no longer catch sight of them. Slowly, she faded in, taking the place of the figure that would catch his attention against the harsh white background. Even if her outfit was the same color, the red stripe at the bottom was enough to draw his eyes to her, on top of her yellow skin coloring.

The two began to walk, and it wasn't much longer before they stopped again, this time at the sight of a wooden table jutting out from the cold snow. On top of it was a bowl of...construction paper. For whatever reason, it seemed a bit familiar, but that honestly wasn't of much importance to him at that point in time. The sight was strange, surely, but not all that important. There were better things he could do to waste his time.

 _*It's a bowl of Temmie Flakes,_ he heard Alphys say, and when the robot glanced over at her, she was bending down to observe a note that had fallen on the floor. Her hands could cusp it, but only for a few moments before she found it falling through again. And this was the woman who built his body? How on Earth does that work?

With a small sigh, Mettaton reached out to lift up the paper, scanning his eyes over it as he did so.

 _*I-it's a note from Temmie, um…_

 _HOOMAN! Pls enjoy da temmie flakes! Dey look reel yummy, yaYU! U so ENTICED!_

 _(MMMMM! Temmie's delicius negotiation tacticks evun making her mouth water!)_

 _(But...nnmm...nu, must resist! Or Tem will...NOT PROGRESS!)_

He shook his head, looking away from the trap...or whatever it was supposed to be, and instead settling them on a reflective rock nearby. Our protagonist then reached behind him into his bag, pulling out the torn notebook, as well as his pencil, and sat himself down next to it, performing his habit of recording his adventures.

 _*Knowing that you have to get past Temmie to get to Hotland...but, um, I don't think you need to eat her Temmie Flakes...i-it rekindles your perseverance._

* * *

 **Ahhh I finally found my muse!** Chara, while still an awesome Demon Mom, wasn't actually my muse! ...Don't get my wrong, I still love them to bits. Writing them is amazingly fun. But my muse isn't one character; it's plot! Plot is my muse! ...They just have a lot of plot. Huzzah! I have found a way to make this work again!

 **Hopefully you guys read my note at the top.** It's really important...

 **Please check out my poll.** Just wanna know if suggesting music at the beginning of a chapter is helpful or not~ It's on my profile page. Just a simple 'yes' or 'no' question.

 **I NEED COMIC ARTISTS AND MUSIC PEOPLE.** So...I really want to do more with the EquationTale Tumblr...I don't have much, heh... Um. My friend is making sprites, but if someone else wants to do that too, that'd be awesome! I'm looking for any artists, really, that want to help, but especially ones willing to do comics! (because my comics suck)

Also, I did two mashups this weekend! TWO! The first is Alphys's DETERMINATION (Alphys x DETERMINATION, a.k.a. the Game Over song), and hOI hOI bOI! (Nyeh heh heh! x Tem Shop). But...I'm still not very good at this. Those are...relatively easy songs in my opinion. I need help with the others...if anyone is willing to help, anyone, please, contact me.

FOR ANYONE INTERESTED!: You can PM me here, message me on DeviantArt (KuraiTsukiMajutsu), Tumblr (KuraiAnanas or EquationTale), NationStates (Kuraiku), YouTube (Kuraiku), or, worst case scenario, leave a review of a way to contact you. Thank you guys so much.

 **Reviews!**

 **Tatzbea:**

"And I might know who Frisk's dad is"

Oh do you? ;3

Only two skeleys?

So Nice Cream Hands Man can't be Frisk's daddy now? Is that what your saying?

...I mean, it'd be kinda weird, since they refer to him as Grandpa Gaster, but, uh...oh well.

 **The Final Conduit (you don't know how many times I kept missing the 't' button typing that):**

Oh, thank you! Well, thank you to everyone, really, but I'm glad you're taking an interest in Chara! Ah...it's probably pretty evident they're my favorite so far. They kind of have the most complex character, I think. Especially backstory-wise.


	11. Alphys, that isn't

**Hey guys.**

Are there any comic artists or music makers out there that'd be willing to help? Please, contact me, or leave a review on how I can contact you if you're interested.

* * *

 _*Warning: Bunny Love._

"Bu-...what?"

Mettaton shook his head, feet carrying him to where the 'x' should be. He hadn't noticed the sign the first time coming through, and if the layout in the snow hadn't made him backtrack, he probably wouldn't have. Not that it mattered right now. "Bunny love" made just about as much sense to him as the stupid hearing rating or whatever a couple rooms back.

After digging around a little in the snow between a few trees, he felt his hands grace against a piece of metal and flip it over, a small 'click' ensuing. He then turned to Alphys.

"Do you know what that does?"

"Um…" She hesitated, arms currently crossed and gaze centered on someplace off in the distance. She hadn't been through Snowdin that often, even alive. It was always so cold… As a ghost, Alphys tended to stick to the Ruins, mostly since it was the furthest away from those... _things_ , and the door was locked. It made her feel safe.

As such, she returned her attention to Mettaton with a tilted head, eyes lingering on him for but a moment as she spoke and then darting away after that. "I'm not sure."

"I suppose we'll find out, then," he said while rising to his feet and bending one arm over his head in a stretch, the other following suit. This body can still stretch, at least. That's nice. He'd need to stretch after walking for this long. The trek back to the area with the map was not an easy one, after all, but when the sight of empty snow met his view (as opposed to the spikes that had been there before he flicked the sticky switch), a grin etched its way in his expression, and his eyes brightened. There was a small skip in his step, and Alphys couldn't blame him. She always did enjoy a good puzzle; completing one felt so accomplishing. It was a feeling she often found herself missing…

Mettaton was able to keep up this energetic enthusiasm for several more moments as Alphys stumbled behind him. She didn't ask him to slow down, but it wasn't long before he found himself doing so anyway, particularly when two figures out in the distance came charging toward him. Two bunnies, he noted. Both white in color, dressed in what appeared to be a cloak of some kind, though neither of the two could tell if there was anything else on them; no shoes, gloves, hats, none of those, so the rest was assumed to be absent as well.

"I heard it from up here," the one said. Its voice echoed in a high pitch, accent making her sound extremely girlish in tone, despite the scythe that was being held upright in her hands.

To the opposite side, another rabbit, this one a bit more masculine (though Mettaton still held the impression she was, in fact, a female) and clutching her scythe tighter than the other in a more threatening manner.

"Are you sure it's here?" she asked, and the smaller one gave a firm nod while charging forward.

"Where?"

At this point, Mettaton would roll his eyes as they encircled him, placing both hands on his hips and leaning onto one leg. "Ladies, please-"

"There it is!" the smaller cried in her delicate voice. She swung her scythe decisively down just an inch or so away from his body, and he already felt his heart creeping out of his chest.

The other took another leap forward. "Are you sure that's a human? Sounds a bit metallic for one."

"I'm certain! They have a very distinctive slur to their voice- I know it's a human!"

The stronger-looking one raised an eyebrow, tilted her head to the side, then shrugged, holding out her own weapon as well. "Guess it's time to eliminate. I'm already getting a bit phonophobic."

The robot sighed. It was almost becoming reflexive now, to move his arm over to the 'ACT' option the second it appeared on the floor. His heart followed, meandering to check, while he kept his eyes on the pair and made a few steps back. In the background, a faint, _*Bunni assaults you!_ could be heard, but he didn't pay much mind to it.

 _*Rabbiressa - Attack 6, Defense 4_

 _Sister of Bunamy._

 _Used to own the Snowdin Shop. I guess she joined the Royal Guard…?_

Alphys sounded a bit unsure, but Mettaton shook it off. He was too busy weaving around the blue and white hearts that the more masculine shot out with just a quick kiss to the air. It'd be lying to say he wasn't entranced by the attack for a few seconds, but a white one graced his metal, causing him to wince and back away. Unfortunately, there was little room between the hearts, and the more he moved, the more he was tossed into another glowing shape, reducing his HP further.

He moved his heart over to the other 'Check' option, this time for the more feminine one, who noticed a part of the ribbon that was wrapped around her ear become tangled in her scythe's blade. When her sister saw this, she'd take a quick hop over to the other and rip it out with one paw before refocusing back on the robot.

"I swear," she said, eyes locked on Mettaton despite addressing the rabbit beside her, "I'm going to just cut that thing off someday."

 _*Bunamy - Attack 6, Defense 4_

 _She cares for her sister just as much as her child._

"Alphys, that isn't-!"

Mettaton cut himself off when he noticed the feminine one swinging her now ribbon-free scythe at his chest. It almost managed to hit, had his back not been flexible enough to duck down at the last second. He had to be grateful for the flexibility that Alphys installed in him. There was a wind that brushed against his hair as the blade swept by, and this was one of the factors that Mettaton was too busy being distracted by to notice Rabbiressa's own weapon swinging at him from behind. It landed firmly on his back.

Alphys gasped. That...that wasn't supposed to happen! His body was...it was really rough! She didn't have time or materials to make a good version! It wasn't sturdy! What if some of the mechanisms came loose!? It'd take ages to fix! No, no, no!

"F-FIGHT!" she stuttered, trying to will his heart from the ACT button onto the preferred one. Unfortunately for her, it failed.

Instead, she got to witness him reaching a hand out to pet one of them, much as he did the child before. Specifically, he reached out for Bunamy. It would require spinning on his heel to get to the proper angle, but when he was finally able to grab a hold of her, Rabbiressa gasped and swung her scythe down as hard as she could.

It all happened so quickly, Mettaton didn't have time to process it. It took Alphys screaming in horror to actually grab his attention. His eyes finally trailed down to his left hand, though they had to move to the floor to do so. There was a moment where an image of first encountering Frisk flashed into his mind as he stared down at the detached limb. This wasn't a stick, though; this was a piece of metal that thunked onto the floor when it had first it. Sticks didn't do that.

Sticks also didn't leave your arm feeling like it was on fire when they fell off.

In absolute terror, the robot froze, forgetting the cold of the snow and the ghost shouting to fight back, explaining with short breath how she could fix it if they got to her lab. The rabbits around him paused for a moment to take in what had just occurred and Bunamy brought a paw up to her open mouth. It was rather recent that she'd been offered a position on the Royal Guard, and it certainly hadn't been enough time to witness something as brutal as this… There was no blood, thank God. The "human" seemed in just as much shock as she was, and her sister wasn't all too better.

However, as each second ticked away, pain crept over Mettaton, and the numbness of shock gave way to an ear-bleeding scream which both rabbits winced at. It was nearly impossible to hear Alphys over all of this, and whatever she was saying was drowned out by the sound of metal slicing through more mental. The group watched in silent horror as the head of our protagonist's body made a quick crackling sound before landing with a loud _THUMP!_ onto the pure white ground. Mettaton's feet would soon give way as well, and the rest of the body came toppling down into a tangled heap of sparking scraps.

"...Rabbi?" the smaller of the two muttered, her eyes still fixated on their kill. She hadn't moved an inch from the time the arm had fallen, mouth still agape while her mind processed the metal carcass. That didn't happen; she couldn't believe it. They had just...decapitated someone…

"We did it, Bunamy!" her sister replied with a small slur of pride in her voice. Rabbi's back left paw did a quick half-skip while she held her scythe firmly in the snow like a poll. There was a broad smile on her face while she, too, sized up their victory. Oh, their boss would be so proud when he found out they'd killed a human! When she spotted the purple heart hovering overtop of Mettaton's body, it only served to further excite her.

"Rabbi, we…"

"We caught a human!" she declared and eagerly rushed toward the body.

Her sister wasn't so quick to join their capture's side. Her weapon fell to the floor, paws rubbing against each other with feet pointed inward while staring at the weapon. "We killed someone."

The sister's smile dropped, though only slightly as she shook her head. "It's just a human. They're not supposed to be down here. Even Chara and Boss's kid are willing to fight them."

"But...we killed someone… Rabbi, we cut their head off!"

Rabbi stood, bringing her attention back to the other living female with a slight shake of her head and letting her scythe drag behind her, if only a bit. Her mouth was taught into an unamused flat line that twitched once at the thought of her sister going back on their positions. No, no. Bunamy wouldn't do that. Even if she had to be demoted, she wouldn't betray them. That's a silly thought.

"Bunamy, I'm gonna go get Boss and have him take the SOUL to Asriel. You stay here, and for the love of Asgore, do _not_ let your kid get put his paws on that human. Y'here?"

Bunamy gave a quick nod and watched as her sister then waved and headed out to Snowdin. Her eyes trailed back to the glowing heart, if only for a moment, before scanning around her. It was such a shame she couldn't see the ghost that was following our protagonist. It'd have been much more beneficial had she had seen the monster that close to his metallic corpse. If the former Royal Scientist had been held more firmly in the plane of existence that Bunamy had perceived in, then perhaps she could have heard how rapid Alphys's breath was, or even the frantic "Oh my god… Oh my god!" that repeatedly exitted her mouth.

Instead, the Royal Guard Bunny simply stood straight as a pole with her arms cradling her scythe's snath like a teddy bear.

While she might be keeping calm, behind her, on the other hand, said ghost was throwing her arms about wherever they might happen to land, hands rubbing any body parts that they made contact with as she paced around the body. That wasn't supposed to happen! Not already! The other humans… they lasted longer than this. The only one that hadn't made it at least to Snowdin was Roy, but he was another matter. The other three were tougher. What was it that set them apart? Why had they made it so much farther?

Alphys halted, snapping her fingers together as her head perked up. "DETERMINATION," she muttered to herself before turning to look at the body once more.

"If...if the myth is true…"

She approached the carcass, slowly, clutching her arms tightly to her chest and leaning over it once her feet had graced the sides. "If it's true, and my hypothesis is right, then maybe…"

Her eyes squinted, face scrunching in pain at the thought of what might happen. There were several possibilities running through her mind at the time, only one having the desired outcome. It was so unlikely, though… How could she be certain the thing sustaining her was even the necessary substance? She was the only source around for miles besides the human SOUL, and that was assuming she even had any. The only other option would be to rush to Hotlands and hope to find one of the captured SOULs, but even then, extracting it would be a nightmare, and she'd never make it back before Undyne came to get Mettaton. Or...she was assuming that the rabbit was referring to Undyne when it said "Boss," anyway. She didn't remember any rabbits working under her crush, but then again, she didn't seem to pay much attention when Undyne was in the room.

There was a moment of silence while she brought one hand to her mouth to ponder. This could risk...everything. If she was still considered a monster by the laws of time and space, they could end up fusing, and with even more DETERMINATION, who _knows_ what would happen? On the other hand, if Mettaton remained in the position he was in- a bodiless SOUL floating in the open for anyone to grab- there were much worse things that could happen, being captured one of her lesser worries.

"But what if I…?" she thought outloud. It was almost a habit now, as no one could hear her anyway, besides a few ghosts and possibly Mettaton.

She shook her head and began encompassing the corpse once more. "No, but...b-but i-if he's-"

Alphys was snapped out of her thoughts the moment a rustling noise from the brush had caught her attention. Out of it stepped a small rabbit, the child from earlier, whose mother rushed over to the side of. Bunamy was the only other monster in the area, after all. Her kid seemed rather focused on the path to Mettaton's SOUL, and no one else was nearby to stop him from reaching it.

"Kiff," the mother said once she had managed to grab a hold of her youth. "What are you doing out here?"

He lowered his head a bit, subjecting himself to his mother's grip, but still reaching out a hand toward his goal, almost resembling one of the undead in a movie Alphys had viewed not too long before her death.

"I feel it, Mommy. It's calling me."

The mother didn't seem too thrilled at this answer. Confused, perhaps, and judging from the way she held her face, that was most likely the case. She certainly wasn't happy with her son's response. "What's calling you?"

"The SOUL," he replied, and leaned forward a slight bit. "It's scared...and hurt. But it doesn't want to show it."

"It's a human SOUL, sweetie," Bunamy replied, trying her best to keep her voice even while she held her son back. He wasn't exactly resisting, but that doesn't mean her fear disappeared. There was always a chance he might try to break free like with the others, and she didn't need her son gaining god-like powers anytime soon…

Alphys, however, seeing this display, would gasp, quickly turning around with widened eyes at the area around Mettaton. She was met with images of several other monsters, each one warped to a sickening degree as they scrambled towards the floating heart. Some were faster than others, and those that managed to make their way to the front would need to climb over each other from how packed it was, thus melting onto the slower monster and fusing with it, though continuing forward as if nothing happened.

Her eyes darted back at the two rabbits behind her, neither of which seemed to notice. If the kid did, he was too busy reaching out for the SOUL to display this (though, he _was_ blind, and these creatures didn't seem to be making much noise, so if he didn't notice, it wouldn't be a surprise either). If the mother had seen them, for whatever reason, she decided to tend to her kid more than her duty. Alphys could understand, somewhat...but if those creatures...those creatures that she...she recognized them! Oh god, they were after her! They were coming, and they were going to get the SOUL to get revenge, to tell their families that they...that she…!

With one final gasp of air, the dinosaur made a small leap forward and grabbed hold of the purple heart, feeling a slight heat emanate from around it. It was a welcoming warmth, though a sense of worry also pierced through her at the contact from an outside source, presumably the SOUL itself.

"Please work," she whimpered as she closed her eyes to escape the sight of the enclosing abominations of her own creation.

"Please...work…"

* * *

 **Tatzebea:** Hey, if you ever get some free time, I wouldn't mind help with drawing anyway. Even if it's not frequent, every little bit counts.


	12. THE BUNNIES ARE GONNA KILL YOU!

**Important:** I'm going to be updating once every one to two weeks instead of definitely once a week. Still same time/day. Thank you for understanding.

* * *

"Alphys?"

Alphys could feel her breath hitch, but refused to open her eyes. The heat from the purple heart was just so warm and welcoming that her palm didn't lose contact with the SOUL. It couldn't. If what she'd hoped for came true, there was no telling what awaited her, and if it hadn't...she didn't want the hallucination to wear off so soon.

When it didn't receive a reply, the voice continued. "What are you doing?"

To this, she had to open her eyes. What _was_ she doing? Alphys wasn't sure. Was she still grasping the same thing she had been when they had originally made contact? Or had the monsters gotten to her? There was no way to know without observing.

What she was met with was a scene more startling than anything. Her robot companion was seated in front of her, one leg dangling over the other, notebook propped up against them. His pencil hovered above it, as if just finished scribbling down all thoughts moments before and now was frozen while its owner's eyes settled upon the glowing purple heart beside his chest, of which Alphys's hand was currently wrapped around.

"Um…" She quickly retracted the yellow, clawed hand and eyed her surroundings. Shiny stone reflecting light, small wooden table, temmie flakes…

Her eyes widened.

Temmie flakes!

The ghost sprung forward to wrap both arms around her metal partner. There was so much to take in. Was this a dream? Had she finally shattered, and this was the afterlife? The ghost wasn't sure how to feel if she had to spend the rest of eternity reliving her memories.

"Alphys, what has gotten into you?"

"I can touch you!" Alphys exclaimed, leaping back and drawing her hands to her mouth.

Mettaton blinked. "Yes, and?"

"I…" Her expression dropped from one of shock to subtle confusion, eyes narrowing and shoulders dropping. "...w-we couldn't do that before…"

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I-I mean...you tried touching me, a-and you went through...through my chest, and nose…"

The robot stood, slowly, taking note of the way his partner seemed to step back. How strange. She'd been acting fine- or at least, as fine as far as he could tell- until now. What could have gotten into her, he wondered? What was it in the way he sat down that made Alphys lean forward and trigger the same battle sequence he'd been through too many times to care, only to grab hold of his SOUL and refuse to let go? They were such strange things to ask, and he certainly never thought he'd be finding himself questioning such an odd thought. Perhaps it would be best to pretend this had never happened…

"Right…" he remarked, and decided to begin pacing off further down the pathway. Hopefully he wasn't supposed to _eat_ those temmie flakes. That would surely bode poorly for whatever passed as a digestive system in this body.

When she saw him begin to walk away, Alphys's expression then morphed into one of worry and she proceeded to take several steps forward before letting out a sharp cry of, "Wait!" while tossing her hands in the air in front of her.

Ah, what was it now? Alphys would want to put this behind her too, he hoped, and merely ended up tilting his head to the side, body angled at some degree partly towards her and also partly towards the path as indication of being torn between the direction he wished to go. "Yes?"

"What…" She rubbed her hands together a bit- hands that would be clammy by now, had the ghost girl still been alive, though she might had rather been stuck with that fate than having to exist in this state between life and death, unsure at any moment if she would finally crumble to dust… "What...h-happened?"

Mettaton shook his head, letting it fall for a moment as he turned back to face the path in front of him, then proceeded to wave at Alphys to get her to follow. "You know what happened. You were just there."

She glanced over her shoulder. This...this was by the temmie flakes…? And…and the woods were back there...with...with Frisk...and they...but she...but the bunnies…!

"B-but.." she stuttered, turning her attention again to Mettaton. "...y-you were just with…"

"Frisk," he finished for her. He then began to walk forward again, this time continuing when Alphys didn't immediately follow. She would catch up, thankfully, but it would take a moment to recollect herself.

The two finally rejoined around a small wooden sign. Mettaton had almost missed it as his eyes were trained ahead, however the brown wood standing out against the white of the snow was enough to make his sensors a bit quicker in picking up on it, concealed beneath the tree as it was. As his eyes scanned over it, a look of confusion washed over him, one Alphys was quick to detect.

 _*Warning: Bunny Love,_ she read, taking a small step forward.

"Bunny...what?"

 _*(Yes, y-you read that right.)_

The robot shook his head, straightened his back, and gave a quick turn on his heel. Left or north, left or north? Where could that sign be referring to?

"What do you think?" he asked and glanced down over his ghostly narrator, who cocked her head to the side, arms closed against her chest.

"W...what…?"

"Which way should we go?" Mettaton repeated, though already began to move straight ahead.

Alphys frowned and reached out for his bag. She retracted her hand for a brief moment as memories of him being mutilated by the scythe flashed in her mind, causing her to step backward with mouth agape, but she dried her eyes and moved to the side.

"Um...w-why not this way?"

"Hm?"

He turned to face her, at which point she nodded, forcing a smile on her face.

"Y-yeah! Uh...there's...a switch you have to push this way. And...I think you should go there!"

She paused, however, when Mettaton's eyes moved on her once more and all attempts at her fake smile fell as she flung her hands out in front of her. "Or...or maybe we could just go forward…" The switch might've stayed in place, right…?

"Nonsense, darling. What's the switch for?"

"Well, it…" Alphys darted her eyes toward the floor. "...it fixes the spikes that way, s-so you can get through, but, um...maybe there's a better route-"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," was all he said in response. Understandable, really. Alphys seemed much more jittery than she had been merely minutes before, and Mettaton didn't want to handle that. Whatever had gotten into her would most likely pass, and he simply had to carry on until it did. No point in stopping for a few nerves, now was there?

Unsurprisingly to the both of them, the switch was there, untouched save for the blanket of snow that was lying on top of it. Once flicked, a clicking sound could be heard, followed by Alphys jumping an inch off the ground. Mettaton had turned without a second thought and began to head down the way he was originally going to go, until his partner spoke.

"Wait!"

"What is it now?"

The dinosaur rubbed the back of her neck roughly while gazing down at the cold, fluffy substance beneath her feet. "Um...there's...some bunnies down there and they…"

Alphys hesitated, and Mettaton could feel his eyes roll as he dropped his hand from his hip with a huff. "Alphys, spit it out already. _What_ could _possibly_ have gotten into you? You were fine earlier and now you're acting like you saw the devil. If there's something I need to know, then tell me. Otherwise, I'm moving ahead."

The ghost let out a small gasp when she watched her partner begin to walk away and hadn't thought for a second before screaming, "THE BUNNIES ARE GONNA KILL YOU!"

Mettaton froze, eyebrows furrowing together and eyes moving upward to process the information. "...What?"

"I-I-I mean, u-um…" How many times could she do this? How many times could she have him die without something happening? They lucked out this time- she still held disbelief in how- but what about again? Could her SOUL hold intact for it? I-it was best to just avoid those situations all together…especially if Mettaton refused to gain any LV to fight back. He wouldn't be able to protect her, and she...she…

"Well?"

"Th-there's some rabbits up ahead...l-like the temmie from earlier. They're...not human bunnies. They're monster bunnies, and part of the Royal G-Guard. They w-want to _kill_ you, o-or at least...one of them does. They'll take your SOUL to A-Asriel-"

"So how do we get past them?"

The ghost blinked. Past...yeah! What was it the one said? That Mettaton _sounded_ human? Something about a slur in the voice? So, in theory, if he didn't speak, they wouldn't be able to tell a difference…

For once, Alphys found herself smiling brightly. Of course! If Mettaton kept quiet, they wouldn't be able to use the hearing rating to tell the difference! It was brilliant! "Just...don't talk. They rely on, um, hearing, and...they can tell from your voice. So…"

"So keep quiet," he finished for her, turning back to the road with a curt nod and back straight, shoulders high. "Sounds easy enough. Let me know when they're out of earshot."

"Right." She mimicked his nod in reply and reflexively straightened her back a small bit as well, feet moving forward more firmly and leaving behind a very faint print in the snow behind her.

There wasn't much time before two rabbits could be spotted off in the distance. One, a taller, slightly more muscular-looking one, appeared to be leaning against a tree with her arms crossed and head tilted downward slightly, while the other stood in front of her, weight shifted to one foot and arms moving about exuberantly.

Alphys winced when Mettaton became close enough that the two noticed him. She didn't know him all that well, but she still had a general idea of his character, and she was fairly certain that his mouth would open within a minute of being around the two. Perhaps they could make it past in time, though judging from the way they each reached for their scythe and swung the blades down across each other to block his path...it seemed unlikely.

"Halt," Rabbiressa said, her free hand propped up against her side and looking the robot up and down. "I haven't seen you around. You must be new here."

Mettaton opened his mouth, at which point he heard Alphys gasp, and then promptly shut it, nodding.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" she continued. Her attention shifted to her sister for but a moment so they could lock eyes before returning to the newbie, who once more nodded.

After another moment of analyzing, the rabbit nodded. "You don't seem to be a troublemaker… I suppose we could let you pass."

"But Rabbi, what if they're a human?"

The larger rabbit shrugged, neither seeming to notice the figure in front of them tensing slightly. It was only slightly, after all. He still held a bright smile on his face. "They can't be human. They're too quiet."

"But what about Boss's kid?" Bunamy interjected. "They didn't talk for a while after falling down here."

She waved her free hand out toward the figure with a slight scoff. "Yeah, but Boss's kid didn't look like _that._ C'mon. That's obviously one of Papyrus's toys or something. Y'know he likes to visit here sometimes."

Bunamy let out a small sigh, shaking her head and lowering her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right… Okay."

Her sister removed the weapon quite readily, however Bunamy let her own droop down slightly before removing it from the robot's path. Said robot would nod, a smile on his face, and then continue onward.

Alphys, however, was still on edge, even after the two had left their sight. Mettaton was waiting for the signal that he could speak, which she was holding out on for quite some time, and even when they had reached what appeared to be the next puzzle, she hadn't said a word, instead simply holding her breath.

It wasn't until Mettaton gave her a semi-death glare that she nodded. The rabbits...were probably far enough away. She didn't want to risk it, but she didn't want to risk her companion's wrath either, especially if she was anything like Undyne…

With a small sigh, Alphys nodded. "Okay, y-you can talk now."

* * *

 **Haha, I'm feeling really pressured to do this.** I think it's making the chapters turn out really crappy. That's why I changed the schedule.

 **Reviews**

 **Ck:** That's a lot of questions, and I'm not entirely sure they'll all be answered, so I'll give a little bit here.

1) I don't think every human would have the ability to reset the timeline. That'd just be messy. The cyan SOUL's trait is patience. Blue is integrity. Purple is perseverance and, while not very far removed from Frisk and Chara's trait- DETERMINATION- is not close enough. Though, the purple SOUL, at least in my headcannon, would have the second highest chance of being able to RESET, since the two are practically synonyms. In other words, every human has different capabilities with timelines, and for the purple SOUL to be able to RESET, they need a little...push.

Which is where Alphys comes in at.

2) I mean, she had to die at some point in time. Everything didn't just happen all at once and then _poof!_ game starts :3

3) Oh, that really wasn't important.

He was actually saying, "That isn't helping."

If you think it's important only because I put it in the title...don't.

 **Tatzebea:** While I don't think "happy" is the best word to go there (maybe it is...I dunno your feelings bruh), you don't know how happy that made _me_ to read your comment. I want my stuff to help people...I want my creations to...to influence others positively...I think I'm starting to tear up a little bit typing this. Seriously, that just...thank you...

 **NoItsBecky:** "Undyne has something to do with Asriel"

I mean...if you're referring to the fact that Undyne is in Asriel's spot, then, well...it's kind of obvious, heh. If you mean interaction wise...I guess they would've interacted a little bit before she died. It'd be difficult for her not to if she was captain of the Royal Guard when he took over the throne.

So ye.

As for Chara...hey, I won't kill you. Can't guarantee they won't. But, if you mean, "How are they a mother?" then don't worry, they're not. At least, not that I know of. I hope they haven't been getting _Frisky_ at all, if you know what I mean.

Let's keep those knock-knock jokes rated T for Teen 'till both of you are out of 'em ;3


	13. First Time Down the Rabbit Hole

Even as she watched Mettaton complete the puzzle, Alphys still couldn't get over something that had been plaguing her mind since she heard it leave the rabbit's mouth.

" _Boss's kid."_

Last time she checked, Undyne didn't have a kid, and the way those rabbits were implying...she was pretty sure even if Undyne did, it certainly wouldn't be human. The only two humans she knew of were Frisk and Chara...the rest were dead. Even as she heard Mettaton say something to the energetic ball of fur about leaving her temmie flakes just for her, Alphys still couldn't stop thinking about it. Even after solving the puzzle and watching Mettaton let out a triumphant 'hmph,' she still couldn't manage to tear her attention away. Those bunnies were part of the Royal Guard, right? The outfit they were wearing looked like one of the options, even if it wasn't a suit of armor. She could've sworn they were a part of it...but Undyne didn't have kids.

Right?

She let out a small sigh as she stepped forward, attention only snapping back to the setting around her when Mettaton reached out for her arm and gave her a quick tug back to him.

Of course, it was understandable why. Looking up, Alphys would notice that she was five seconds away from walking straight into the strange, bipedal temmie, or, even worse, just going through her due to the scientist's ghostly form.

"Frisk haz stick colecshun!" the temmie exclaimed, thrusting her paws into the air with a wide smile.

Mettaton only nodded. How long had he been standing there, his partner wondered? Had she really been lost in her own thoughts for that long? Maybe she should pay more attention to Mettaton…

With a quick leap in the air, Temmie returned his nod even more enthusiastically. "Is really cute! They even decor8 da stiks sumtems! It gets glittur all over dough…"

"Uh, yes," Mettaton cut in, shifting his weight to one side. "What does this have to do with the puzzle…?"

Her eyes widened, while a quick gasp of air exited her mouth joyfully. "Oh, right! Da puzzle!"

She scurried off and planted her feet down just a few yards away, near another sign that Alphys would pursue.

 _*Turn every 'X' into an 'O', then press the switch._

Alphys's eyes glanced back at Mettaton, who was still in conversation with the tem. This was supposed to be a puzzle, but...it didn't really look like a puzzle from her perspective. Maybe she was missing something…

"OKEE! Soooo…"

The pair watched- one holding his eyebrow raised, the other squinting her wide eyes- as Temmie then lept over the sign like an acrobat, shoving her nuzzle into a large pile of snow and then pulling it back but a moment later.

"Dere's like...relly good news an relly bad news. Da good news is I gots da PUZZLE!1! Da bad news is I tried to move da puzzle an it kind of broke."

"It...broke." Mettaton stared down at the snow piled up against the floor like a sack of cold meat. There really wasn't much to describe. What looked like three poor excuses for snowmen(tems?) were stacked next to each other, each one toppling in some random direction. He wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to look like _not_ broken… Maybe "broken" wasn't the right word for it. "Uh huh."

Temmie stuck her tongue out as her blue orbs lulled into a cross-eyed expression after glancing about. They seemed to be focusing on her tongue(?). "Welp! Frisk isnt here sO im gonna try 2 do da puzzle. You do 2 w/o solushun okee?!"

Mettaton's eyebrows furrowed as his mouth gaped into an 'O' shape. Solution? To _WHAT!?_

He was soon snapped out of his thoughts by a furry paw slamming down against his metal lips, which caused him to blink in shock and he took a half-step back.

"What was that for?!" Mettaton exclaimed, his hands curling into tight fists as he heard the temmie before him giggle.

"U gots to turn da 'O' to an 'X'!"

Alphys didn't quite agree, but she wasn't about to open her mouth. She wasn't entirely sure that the sign was right, she was hoping that Temmie couldn't hear her, and there weren't any 'O's nearby...or 'X's...

" _What_ 'O's?" Mettaton hissed. His eyes scampered around the cold ground, but all he saw were lumps of snow.

Temmie didn't respond, however. She made a quick leap over one of the piles, gasped, giggled, and then shoved her face into it.

After a moment of Alphys and Mettaton staring at this...odd behaviour, Mettaton began to pace towards her, but froze when she removed her head screaming, "I FOUND DA SOLUSHUN!1!111!"

They could only squint, one bringing his hand just above his eyes to make sure he was seeing everything. A question still plagued him (solution to...WHAT?), and he ground his foot into the floor impatiently, again watching as Temmie stuck her head into the pile of snow, this time raising it by bobbing her head and what followed was an accompanying 'click'. Her tail wagged as she backed into sight and leapt once in the air.

Behind her, a set of spikes fell, clearing the path ahead of them. Beyond that lied a small stone bridge, which, with how shaky it seemed, Mettaton wasn't so sure he wanted to test out.

"C'mon!" Temmie cried as she scampered forth. "Da next puzzle ahead! Banana split! Les blow dis popsikle stand! Kumquats I dunno!"

Mettaton didn't turn his head away from the fleeing tem, even as his companion shuffled up beside him, rubbing one hand over the other anxiously and looking up to Mettaton for any sort of guidance on the matter.

"W-well that just sort of...happened," she stuttered, shifting from one foot to the other repeatedly. "I-I mean...I-I didn't even participate in that…"

With a deep breath in, the robot closed his eyes, bringing one hand up to the bridge of his nose and pinching it to aid in getting rid of the pounding headache Temmie had caused. She was just so _loud_ …and illogical...

"Alphys?" he asked without opening his eyes or removing his metal hand.

She blinked once, leaning in slightly and opening up her chest more as this was done. "Yes…?"

"How much longer do I have to put up with that _thing_?"

When she didn't answer immediately, the robot sighed. Of course. How could she know? It wasn't like this place had a preset path, and Alphys certainly wasn't all-knowing, despite how much it seemed that way. ...She wasn't all-knowing, right? Up until now, she'd known just about everything of the area around them, and was even able to warn him of the rabbits. Though that could easily be chocked up to the rabbits having a routine path…

"Alphys?" he asked, pausing, this time in a voice that held less aggression and much more curiosity than before.

It was enough to make her freeze and let out a small gulp. Alphys wasn't entirely sure why she was so nervous, but something in the way his tone changed so suddenly put her just the slightest bit on edge.

"Y-yeah?"

"How _did_ you die?"

..Die? He...wanted to know how she died? That was a bit, um...random… Why did he want to know this, exactly?

Although the question seemed a bit out-of-the-blue, for Mettaton, it wasn't. That ghost all the way back in the Ruins gave off such a genuinely warm and friendly aura that he couldn't help but remember her baffled expression at hearing that Alphys was dead. Ever since falling down that hole, so much had happened to Mettaton, yet he barely knew anything about the history of this place. Why was this ghost even following him? Because she built him a body, and he wanted to customize it. But why go to that great of a length for someone you didn't even know? It seemed somewhat suspicious. Not that he was about to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but there was no point in blindly following her to possibly unpleasant scenarios either.

"Well…" Alphys brought her arms back up to her chest to cover herself, feeling one brush against the ghostly pen that rested in her shirt pocket but choosing to ignore it in favor of hunching over somewhat and looking down at the floor. "Um…"

The wind began to pick up around them. Though our protagonist wasn't sure from where, that wasn't the focal point of his attention. He stared down at the dead dinosaur with one hand on his hip, feet firmly spread out, while the other adjusted the area his indigo glasses rested at. The lenses glinted against what little light surrounded them, but he didn't mind.

"...I-I don't know if you'll want to h-hear it," she stuttered. The ghost took a few steps back, heading for the stone bridge that they were so close to, but stopped when she caught Mettaton crossing his arms.

"Alphys."

"heya."

Mettaton didn't even jump this time. He was starting to get used to hearing that voice when he least expected it, so turning around to see Frisk standing directly behind him wasn't much of a surprise, or at least not as much as it used to be.

"Hello, Frisk," he said with a small sigh. And right when they were in the middle of a serious conversation, too.

They chuckled, using one hand to pull down the purple scarf that wrapped around their neck, at least so that they could speak without having fuzzies fall in their mouth. One of the downsides to living in cold weather 24/7.

"nice puzzle-solving skills."

Mettaton then let out a growl and spun on his heel. "Frisk, I'm in a hurry. Is that all you wanted?"

"woah, woah." They held up their hands in surrender while half-trying to bite down the laughter building up in them. "it's chilly out, but your soul looks warm. no need to be _cold hearted._ "

Once again, the former human merely rolled his eyes, beginning to pace further down the path. It was enough to make Frisk's smile return to their neutral expression, if only for a bit, before thoughts of their roommate and close friend flooded their mind, and they shifted their weight to one foot.

"Are you coming?" Mettaton hissed without bothering to look back as he continued on. Shame, really. Frisk much rather preferred to express themself through body language, such as a nod, a shrug, and taking a few steps forward.

Much to Mettaton's surprise, Frisk did, in fact, mimic those steps, and while Mettaton wasn't about to let something so small get the best of him, it _was_ enough to make him pause.

"Are you coming?" the shorter repeated with their hands in their pockets as they strolled past the robot. Their attention was fixated straight ahead, and a smug smile made their way onto their face as they past, but still, Mettaton would not let that get the best of him! He kept up with Frisk quite easily, and the two continued on.

When they came to the top of the small stone bridge, the human came to a halt, peering over the edge for a brief moment to take in their surroundings. Cold air brushed against their face, effectively draining whatever color was left in it despite the human being used to the lack of warmth by now. Strange… Mettaton watched them lay their arms against the handrails and lean forward. There must have been something going on behind those brown eyes… He could tell. He was Mettaton, after all.

A silence hung over the pair after Mettaton had first decided to join Frisk, pressing his palms against the stone handrail and scanning over their setting himself. It was a long way down, that was for certain. The height made him somewhat uncomfortable, but he could handle it, at least for a little while. Beyond that, the snow fell softly against the ground, piling up against the older flakes with enough gentle grace to cause our protagonist's shoulders to fall. He forgot of how high up they were as he scanned the dead trees around them and couldn't help but get lost in thought. Where was he? Underground, yes, but where was he _really_? Mettaton might not seem that wise, but he certainly wasn't stupid. There wasn't weather underground. There wasn't winter or fall or spring...trees didn't grow, and there weren't any clouds to be dropping snow. So what was this place?

He was cut from his thoughts when a human-like voice beside him muttered, "so what's the surface like?"

This made him blink, and he glanced beside him at the shorter one. "...Excuse me?"

"what's the surface like?" they repeated. By now Frisk had swung their body weight around so that they were leaning more on one arm than the other, eyes centered on the robot beside them. "i haven't seen it in a while."

"Oh, uh…" His own magenta eyes narrowed down at the surface below them, once more forcing his stomach to grow unsettled, but the robot decided to ignore it. It wasn't as if he had any sort of bile in him, right? There shouldn't be much of an issue. "I suppose it's alright. We haven't gotten into war or anything."

They nodded, allowing the silence to linger once more in order to collect their thoughts. No wars, that's good… "what about the laws?"

"Hm?"

"my human pappa said it was illegal for gays to get married. it was illegal for people to do things to their own bodies. is that better now? I wouldn't want people to have a bad time."

Mettaton, surprised by the sudden shift in atmosphere, raised himself off of the handrail to turn to Frisk with an expression that mirrored a deer in headlights. He didn't follow politics all that much, but it _seemed_ like something people would make a big deal over if something happened...right? It'd only make sense…

That being said, he still didn't have much prepared for an answer, so the robot simply let his jaw hang open while the empty air around them grew dense. How was he supposed to answer that? Yes? No? Maybe? Why do you care you're trapped underground with a bunch of furries you stupid weirdo? Despite how it may seem, Mettaton at least had _some_ sort of charisma. Neither of those options seemed very optimal.

Of course, there were better answers than just standing there with your mouth open, which, once Frisk realized this, would simply wave their hand. "You don't have to answer that."

"Uh...okay?" Really, where did that even come from? It was just so... _random._ What brought it up? What made Frisk think of _that_ of all things?

 _Calm down, Meckenzi...Mettaton. It's not important._

What was more important was the sudden exclamation of, "FRISK!" which was accompanied by both characters swiveling their heads around to locate the source. Mettaton moved one hand to its natural resting position on his hip and faced the target head-on, while the other beside him simply pushed themself up to stand straighter, palms still resting against the stone. Out of the corner of his eye, our protagonist could note his dinosaur companion balling up in a corner behind them, but he paid no mind to her. After all, she wasn't the one yelling as far as he could tell. No, he was pretty sure he knew full well who was calling, and seeing Frisk run off to its source sort of confirmed this.

The sight they were greeted with was a picture of Temmie, surrounded by various colored tiles and eyes trained on one particular piece in her hand. The tiles themselves looked more like puzzle pieces than anything, though that image might have sprung into his head due to the way Tem was childishly shoving them into each other to get them to fit.

It was enough to make Frisk chuckle, at least.

They approached their roommate with their hands in their pockets, leaning back slightly with their spine hunched an equal amount, shoulders slumped, like life was just strolling by. When they had reached the tem, the human bent their knees, lowering their already low-hanging head to get a better look at what their close friend was doing. She...wasn't exactly the brightest of monsters, Frisk would admit (to themself). Temmie could be up to any number of things and, quite frankly, it wouldn't surprise them.

"FRISK!" Tem exclaimed in aggravation. "DIS STUPID PUZZLE NUT WORKING!"

The human bit their lip in an attempt to keep the chuckle from resurfacing. They reached out for Temmie's paw, cradling it in their hand and whispering a small ' _tisk, tisk'_ while running their eyes over the piece in her fuzzy palm.

"What are you trying to do?"

The temmie ripped her paw away in frustration, throwing the piece down against the cold snow and watching with small contentment as it clattered on the floor with a soft 'thump'. To Mettaton, it seemed like something that could have been ripped right off of him, what with the color and the wire parts protruding out of two sides. It was enough to make him step carefully while proceeding towards the pair, being sure to avoid any of the other matching parts strewn about at random.

"PaPyru sent tEM a puzzle! It wus spossed 2 stpo HOOMAN but is NOT WORKING!"

Mettaton watched with a raised eyebrow as the still-living human shook their head, amused smile plastered onto their otherwise expressionless face. Frisk seemed a lot more intelligent than the monster they were rooming with...why on Earth did they care for it? It was obviously just some unintelligent waste of life. The fact that they even bothered…

Frisk, this time, did let out a chuckle (though a very small one) as they took another nearby plate and held it up high enough that whatever miniscule amount of light was allowed to pass through would reflect off of it. They twirled it about in their hand, eyes scrutinizing every detail and fingers prodding a few empty holes, places that looked like a USB port somewhat.

"What's it supposed to be?" Frisk asked, and they already heard Temmie groan before they had a chance to finish.

"pUzzle, Frisk! Iz supposed 2 be a PUZZLE!"

Mettaton would've crossed his arms by now. With _that_ kind of response, he would've tapped his foot against the snow and stood up before walking away. That's what _he_ would've done, so when Frisk only shook their head...they didn't even look upset. They weren't upset with that tone of voice that their roommate used? _He_ would be!

"What does it do?" they continued. Their voice was still even as it had been before, showing little emotion, that small portion managing to break through being, of course, compassion. They must have been so close to their friend to be able to put up with _that_ level of stupidity.

The tem huffed, followed by her flinging her arms into the snow. "Well I put it together den it has a HOOOOOLE bunch of colors and each coolor means a different thing liek blue is paranas or something an I tink orange tiles make u smell like da oranges!"

Frisk nodded, their face brightening up a bit, as if to say, 'cool!'. Their eyes darted around once more at the various different pieces, all mostly identical save for the position of the USB ports or an occasional part that looked as if it might just connect to those openings. They placed the piece that Temmie had against the part in their own hands, jostling it until a small _click!_ could be heard and handing the now-joint pair back to their friend, who was resting their eyes on it with sparkling intensity.

"Woaahh… HOW U DO DAT!?"

"It's a puzzle," they said with a light chuckle before reaching for another piece. "This one has...holes. So you take the pieces that don't…"

Meanwhile, Mettaton was making his way over to a large metal box in the corner of the path. It was a deep, shineless gray, with a red checkerboard screen, what looked like a VHS slot just beneath it, and several knobs lining the very bottom. For whatever reason, there was something about this strange grey brick that struck Mettaton as familiar, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what. Perhaps it was the fact that the thing reminded him of one of those giant T.V.s from the 90s. It was a possibility, though the cause seemed to be routed a bit deeper than that. It almost felt like that giant box was a part of him, or should be…

...but that's an illogical thought.

The protagonist shook his head, removing his fingers from the machine and turning to the two in the middle before stepping back onto the pathway.

"I'm going ahead now," he called, and just as Tem seemed like she was ready to reply, Frisk interjected with a nod and a smile.

"See you later."

He could hear Temmie scolding the human in the background, but Mettaton didn't care. It wasn't like the tem seemed overly-violent or anything, and Frisk seemed like they could care for themself. If they didn't, why even bother in the first place?

Mettaton's attention shifted on his travel companion, who had remained fairly silent up until this point. Her feet fell in rhythm side-by-side with him, and her hands pressed against each other as she kept her head pointed forward, eyes scanning the area up ahead. It wasn't until now that he realized how short she was. How yellow, nerdy, shy…

He knew her from somewhere.

He wasn't entirely sure where, but Mettaton knew that he recognized her from somewhere further back in his memory. It was strange. She had been down underground with the rest of the monsters, right? The former human couldn't remember anything about monsters being on the surface. Surely that'd be something worthy of the media's attention. But he was certain he hadn't fallen down here before...and if that were the case, where else could he have seen her?

Perhaps he was in some variant of that Tim Burton movie. Nineteen, confused, and constantly being bombarded by random monsters...it certainly felt like it. If only he could remember the first time he fell down the rabbit hole.

By the time he had reached another bright stone, our protagonist was already pulling out his SAVE record, and Alphys was ready with her line of text.

 _*Knowing that Frisk is going to make it out alright…_

 _*...It rekindles your perseverance._

* * *

 **Woo! I got A BUNCH OF STUFF THAT SERIOUSLY NEEDS TO BE READ. GUYS I PUT THIS UP HERE FOR A REASON. IT'S NOT ALL POINTLESS RAMBLING!**

 **Firstly,** I've posted a bit on the Tumblr and my DeviantArt. I've posted a little bit of music on the Tumblr, but I'm really bad at this...and also really new. So if you guys could help, that'd be great...

Also, I made a oneshot with Frisk and Chara from EquationTale. It's called "Don't Leave Me All Alone". Just...go to my profile if you're interested, I guess...

 **I'm looking for people that can draw comics!** Or I mean...just fan art at all would be nice. I...I kind of get this feeling that this AU is pointless. I mean, it's not that popular, at least I don't think so. Y'know? I dunno. I just want people to get ideas from this...y'know? This probably sounds stupid...I'll shut up now.

Oh wait. I'm the only one talking.

...

At any rate!

 **This part isn't as important,** I just wanted to bring some light to something. My OTP, as much as I'd like to express it here, would be rather...impractical. That being said, it's also **very scarce** , and quite frankly I don't know what to do with it. As one of the few shippers of this pairing- and the sole one to create it- it is my duty to spread the pairing in any way I can! Right now this might be the only way.

So, what is the pairing? Well, **I call it Napster.**

Yes, that stands for Napstablook x Gaster.

 **Okay, back to important stuff.**

 **Speaking of music,** I made a list of what I would imagine the EquationTale soundtrack to be. Would anyone want to read it? I don't know where to post it since it's...well, the whole sound track, and I don't think that'd be good to post on a fanfiction chapter. But if I post it on Tumblr, would anyone bother to look? Or DeviantArt?

I won't do it if no one asks. I don't know where to put it.

 **There was other stuff I wanted to talk about...but I think maybe this sums it all up?**

I feel really all over the place right now. Scatterbrained. I feel lost, and stressed. This fanfic is starting to be more like a chore than a fun thing to do in my free time, and I think it's starting to show. I don't know what to do some of the time. Don't know what to write. I don't really want to do another chapter of Snowdin...it's painful to write in. I just want to get to Temmie's fight already and move on.

A lot of stuff is going on in my life and I just feel...I just feel lost. There's really no other way of describing it. Writing is a way to express one's self, so, as mentioned before, this is probably evident in my writing. I'm really sorry. I just...I...I'll shut up before you guys start getting bored. Well, more than you already are, anyway.

 **Reviews**

 **NoItsBecky:**

Okay, I'll just get this one out of the way.

Before I go into gender shit for the humans, lemme make it clear that in my headcannon, Frisk and Chara's sex/gender vary depending on the AU. For instance, I picture OuterTale!Frisk as very teenage boy, while HorrorTale!Frisk I like to imagine as a Fran Bow style girl. Just straight up boy and girl. I imagine Swap!Frisk as female, but non-binary.

That being said, for _this_ AU, I wanted to keep Frisk and Chara's relationship as close to Sans and Toriel's as I could. Gender _does_ play a factor in relationships, so Chara is female and Frisk is male. For the sake of convenience.

 _HOWEVER._ That is what they are _born_ as. I don't want people being biased toward this entire AU just because of two characters' pronouns. That's completely unnecessary. If I say Frisk is a girl, people will be screaming they're a boy. If I say they're a boy, others will scream they're a girl. If I just call them a 'they', only few people will actually get upset. So, while yes, Chara and Frisk do have stuff in their pants, in this AU, they identify as non-binary.

I also want to make it clear that Chara is much more adamant about this than Frisk. Both prefer "they," but if you call Frisk a "he," he won't get offended. If you call 'em a girl, they might get a bit upset...but really, not that much. Chara, on the other hand, if you call them anything but "they," they will turn you into a bleeding, screaming cheese grater...with more holes.

THAT BEING SAID, I really don't give a shit what you call them. They're fictional characters. It's just fun poking at people that get it wrong ;p


	14. Stuck to the Tape

**Please read the author's notes. I put them there for a reason.**

* * *

"Alphys?"

"Y-yes, Mettaton?"

"What is this?"

She pushed her eyes to the side, holding them on the pile of snow that the robot was standing in front of. Her ghostly form skidded over to the ball, at which she bent down at ground-level with, adjusting her glasses.

"I...think it's a snowpoff."

The robot nodded. He prodded it with his foot, placed his hands back on his hips and then moved to the ball of snow beside it. "And what's this?"

"Th...that's a snowpoff."

"And this one?"

"St-still a snowpoff…"

"What about this?"

"Mettaton...th-they're all snowpoffs."

He bent his knees, leaning forward, and reached one hand into the snow with a wide grin. "Yes, but this one has money in it."

"Uh…"

" _Yip yip!"_

The duo glanced over to the side where the path narrowed. There was a snowpoff in front of it, or at least, what appeared to be one at first glance. Soon after their attention was turned, a small tail poked out of the ball and began to wag profusely. It was followed by a muzzle, then the rest of the face, loose snow being shaken off and falling to the floor. Atop the creature's head were two tiny ears and in line with them, resting just above the muzzle, were smoll black eyes. Smoll puppy.

"Aww!" Mettaton exclaimed as the pup let out another 'yip!'. He clasped his hands together, stepping forward, bending down ever-so-slightly to get a better look at the smoll, smoll puppy. "Well aren't you just the cutest thing?"

Alphys wasn't so eager. She darted her own orange-brown eyes to the side a few times before holding out a shaky hand. That dog...that wasn't who she thought it was...was it? "M-Mettaton…?"

"Isn't it adorable, Alphys?" The robot shut his eyes. This was followed with a chuckle. "I must admit, I'm more of a cat person myself, but-"

"M-Mettaton!"

His attention snapped into focus at the sound of her cry. He had been reaching out to pet the pup at the moment, but his appendage had been brushed aside as the thing rose to two legs...or, rather, the boot pieces of a rather large suit of armor. When the thing had reached full height, it was just a little bit taller than him, and his body now stood at at least six feet, quite possibly more if he'd bothered to check.

"How… How did..?"

His question went unanswered, however, once his mind had shifted to the heart seeping out of his chest, and Mettaton let out a loud sigh. This again...lovely. The protagonist should probably be concerned with how many fights he seemed to be getting into, but Alphys seemed like she built a fairly sturdy body from how much damage it was able to withstand. Besides, it's not like he's _died_ or anything.

Mettaton ignored the whimper coming from his companion. Feet planted firmly apart and hands on his hips, the robot strode forward. Even in armor, it's just a dog. A cute dog that he wasn't entirely sure he could…

No, no. He's got this. This is Mettaton, after all.

"Alphys? What is _that_?"

Alphys had lept a bit at his sharp tone but quickly brought herself back to Earth. Deep breaths, Alphys… Deep breaths…

"Alphys?"

 _*I-it's the Greater Dog._

Mettaton rolled his eyes. Oh, yeah. That helps so much. Y'know, he was starting to wonder why he even bothered asking things.

Moving his heart to the 'ACT' option, it came as no surprise he'd first let it hover over 'Check', then scanning over the shiny, tail-wagging creature holding...was that bone _smiling_?

Well, it wouldn't smile for long, as the spear-length bone was then placed inside of the dog's mouth, slobber dripping over it. That seemed to be more than enough to make Mettaton cringe.

"Ew."

 _*He's so excited, h-he thinks…_

Sensing distress, the robot turned his head in the direction he assumed his partner to be (he was correct, of course), however quickly came to regret this decision as a loud bark was emitted from the monstrous pup. He thought nothing of it...not until something rammed into his chest, something too fast for his eyes to catch. There was a second thing that his attention just barely managed to hone in on, but it...it looked almost like the word 'Bark!'. Certainly it wasn't the word itself...that was just silly.

"Ack! What-?"

He moved his hand over the "ACT" button again as he said this, one hand curling around the afflicted area. Nothing. There was nothing in the hole but damaged wires and bolts. Alphys must not have seen them. If she had, she probably would've been crying her head off...not that she wasn't already. Just this time, it was quieter than he would've expected. Softer. More of a whimper. One top of that, she'd been doing it ever since the battle started. That's what worried him more.

So, waving his heart over the 'Ignore' option, Mettaton held his attention on his companion. This dog was just that- a puppy. He was made of metal! Sure, it may have made a small…er, dent, but with legs like these, who needed to worry about a few snapped wires?

"Alphys? What's the matter, darling?"

 _*Um, Greater Dog b-bounds...forward!_

The ghost had whimpered that last note, bringing her hands up to her face with a shriek. It was enough to make Mettaton face his opponent once more and he huffed.

"Can't you take a hint? She's obviously afraid of you."

It let out another bark (Mettaton was right...it was literally the word 'bark' that this weird dog was using to attack with), the robot prepared to dodge this one, and then took a few more steps toward the two.

" _Yip, yip!"_

 _*G-Greater Dog just wants some...affection._

The former human sneered. "Stupid dog. Can't you leave us alone?" Jesus, this thing was dumb… Now he knew why he preferred cats so much.

When it continued on, he clenched his jaw, bringing his foot back to deliver a light tap against its side. Nothing too horrible- not like Toriel; he'd learned from that incident- but the puppy still whimpered and backed away.

 _*G-Greater Dog is making puppy dog eyes…_

"Alphys, I'm moving on now."

He could see her take a glance over the puppy with a frown- wide, terrified eyes, but a frown of sympathy nonetheless. Of course, he kept moving. It was just a dog.

"M-Mettaton?"

"Yes, darling?" he replied, turning his head in her direction but sticking to the path.

Alphys twiddled her thumbs in response. "How...how hard did you kick him?"

"Dear, that was a dog you were obviously afraid of. Why does it matter?"

"It...it doesn't," she lied.

Mettaton raised an eyebrow, shaking his head shortly thereafter. It was just a stupid dog. There were more important matters up ahea-

"WAT!?"

-...never mind.

He needn't so much as move two more feet before identifying the cause of the commotion, which was located at the very end of a long, shaky rope bridge, which the former human's eyes then diverted to and he tapped it gently with his foot.

 _Deep breath, Mettaton. Deep breath._

"I said," a quieter voice echoed from the other side of the bridge, and Mettaton could hear the snicker being held back, "I caught a ghost on tape."

This was then supervened by a loud squeal, which Mettaton winced at, bringing his hands over top of his ears almost immediately. "DAS SO COOL!"

Mettaton looked up. He was careful to keep his eyes straight ahead as the heel of his pink nylon boots wobbled on the very first plank. On the other side, two figures stood, one holding their hands in their pockets and a scarf around the bottom half of their face, the other clapping her paws together in excitement as she stared down at her partner. Mettaton tried to focus on the pair as he kept himself upright.

Said partner would then remove one hand from their bulky winter coat to pull out some small contraption that the protagonist was too far away to make out. It was small, certainly, and shaped like a...TV remote? Maybe? Well, it was certainly small.

The smaller of the two then aimed it at Mettaton, and he almost stepped backwards until he remembered that doing so would cause the unstable bridge to shake. Instead, he stood frozen, watching as two long ropes descended from the ceiling above them. From the first one dangled a heavy black ball, several spikes protruding from its surface. They shone in what little light was visible underground, but Mettaton was fairly certain that he'd rather not be underneath. Of course, the second was no better. Instead of a ball of death, there was a piece of wood, extended in length so the very end, where a blade dangled loosely, would swing in random movements. Another thing Mettaton would rather not go under.

Below him...well, he wasn't looking below him. That would be a massive mistake on his part.

Something else caught his eye. Behind the giant spear- much smaller than either object in front of it- seemed to be...a blob of some sort. No wonder Mettaton hadn't noticed it at first; it was hanging by a roll of clear tape. Just...tape. It must not have been very heavy.

The blob itself seemed awfully familiar. It was a simple white, though there were two small dog ears poking out of the top, as well as a dog tail out the back. The eyes were white, a black ring encircling each. He was sure he'd seen the thing before… That was the one that Alphys tried to hide from, right?

"...Frisk?"

The shorter figure kept their head on the taller, and now the protagonist was close enough to make out who it was that was standing in the soft snow at the end of the bridge. Frisk held their nose up, waiting for the tem to finish her sentence. Their expression seemed neutral, as usual. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Beisde them, Temmie had switched from extreme excitement to mild confusion as she glanced around at the contraption before her. "...where da tape?"

"Stuck to the ghost," was Frisk's response, and Mettaton could just make out a light smirk crossing over them.

"Frisk! Das not-! ...HOOMAN!"

When Temmie's eyes had met the robot, a sigh had to be held back. Not because Mettaton was trying to spare anyone's feelings… He honestly wasn't sure the bridge could handle any sudden movements. Not even from whatever was supposed to be his lungs.

The "child" beside her chuckled. Temmie then thrust her paw out, one digit extended toward the human in question who was currently clinging to the middle of the bridge for dear life. So he was either going to fall to his death, or get skewered trying to get off this damn, shaky thing! Lovely!

"Hooman! I has puz- Frisk put dat away! Is 2 dangerus 4 da huoman!"

The smaller of the two shook their head, pressing the button once more and shoving it back into their coat pocket. They could have sworn they heard a faint, "bye, mettaton…" as the contraption was retracted into its original position, which, to them, would only make sense, but they weren't so sure about the others. They'll just keep that one to themself.

"Hooman!" Temmie cried again, adjusting herself into position once more. "I haz final puzzle 4 u at de end of SNOWDIN! Snowdin is noice place :3"

This was followed by a giggle, of which Mettaton grit his teeth at. His eyes, deciding to ignore his usual flow of logic, peered over the edge of the of the rickety walking piece. All that was holding him was rope… Rope and wood. All that was holding him was rope and wood, directly over the thousands upon thousands of empty yards of air just sitting underneath his feet, waiting to swallow him in the black abyss of nothing. No, god, just let him off this damn bridge…

Temmie's giggle once more morphed into a wonderous shriek as she leapt into the air, her paws waving about. "OKEE! U GO SEE PUZZLE AN I M GUNNA WAIT AT THE END OF SNOWDEN! GOOD LUCK!"

And off she bounded.

As soon as she had left, the robot began to move again, slower this time. Each step sent whatever was supposed to be a heart pounding in his ears, and he swore his boots were sliding. He _swore_ it! Why did he wear heels today? This was a _terrible_ idea! What if a heel got stuck in a rung, or broke one of the planks, or-?

"I don't know what Tem is planning on doing."

He didn't look up. It was a bad idea to focus on the ground, because now that was all he could do. The fact that Mettaton even _heard_ Frisk was a miracle in of itself, one he was too busy trying to survive to question.

Frisk didn't move either. "If I were you, I'd make sure I understand blue attacks." They then paused. Their eyes rolled up to the ceiling, as if in thought. "...blue attacks? ...yeah. Blue attacks."

The robot nodded. He still held his eyes to the ground, stumbling slightly and waving his arms to the side in a frantic manner. He had to keep balance. If he fell here...okay, don't think about that, just keep going…

Another step later, and Mettaton was face-first against the wooden planks that kept him from falling to certain death, and he let out a small whimper to show this. An embarrassing one, yes, and one he would regret later, most certainly, but that didn't stop him from doing it. Seeing what lay underneath him caused his electro pulses to freeze over, and for a moment our protagonist found himself unable to remove himself from his peril. Only for a moment. The next thing he knew, someone was tapping on his silky smooth hair, and that was able to relax him enough to look up.

What he saw was none other than Frisk (who he half expected to try to scare him even further) standing in the middle of his pathway, holding out a hand with a small smile plastered on their face. They were silent, but refused to remove themself, even after a few more seconds of empty air.

Slowly, our robot then clasped it, but did his best to push _himself_ up, though certainly not countering any help that the human was giving him. Not on this bridge, at least. Together, they were able to make it back onto their feet and to the edge in no time. Though looking back...perhaps Mettaton should have let go of their hand _before_ the pair got off.

He didn't bother to thank Frisk, though. Perhaps he was too shaken to; that's what Frisk liked to think.

"I better go catch up," they said once they had reached the end and had unclasped their grip from the protagonist's. The human then turned back to face him, throwing in a wink as they spoke. "Be careful. Wouldn't want you hurting yourself while you're _falling head over heels_ for me."

"That wasn't meant for you," he groaned in return. One metallic hand flew over his closed eyes as he pointed his attention down at Frisk's feet, back slightly arched and hip jutting out to the side when he'd managed to steady himself. This dude...this dude needed to stop.

They added another wink (this one accompanied by sticking out their tongue) before giving a small wave, then strolling off after the tem. It was at this point that Mettaton would look back across the bridge and see Alphys, who had been staring down at a small pile of snow on the other edge. Her arms were crossed over her chest as usual, but even so, Mettaton couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

She was talking to something, that was for sure. He could see her mouth moving. It was impossible to make out exactly what, but there were no doubts that she was talking.

"Alphys?" he called out across the bridge, cupping his hands against his mouth to strengthen the echo. The snow pile shifted somewhat when she looked up, and he could hear her yell something back, however, again, it was difficult to make out what. It didn't matter much. She hurried after him anyway, dragging her feet against the bridge in a horrid excuse of a run, which Mettaton turned away from. She was a ghost, so she _probably_ wouldn't fall, but...he wasn't going to risk seeing that anyway.

He turned around, facing the path ahead of them. This was it now. Part 2 of...who knows how many parts? Hopefully not many. But the fact of the matter lie in having exited the Ruins, having made their way to civilization…

Next stop, Snowdin.

* * *

 **Jfc, I feel like this is going nowhere.**

I don't know how to put this in a way that doesn't sound selfish, but there are a lot of AUs out there. Yeah, I know. The chances of mine getting noticed are...slim. But the thing is, some AUs practically gained popularity overnight, and I'm still trying to figure out how. It feels almost...unfair? EquationTale... There's no fanart, or comics...no music...nothing. It feels almost pointless. Y'know? Like this thing is just taking up space.

There are a few people that said they actually like EquationTale, so thank you for that. I won't delete it. But I'm starting to feel like it's pretty damn worthless.

 **I kind of don't have energy to do much anymore.**

I'll try to still get an update every one to two weeks, but if I don't...I'm probably not dead...just not really feeling up to it right now, sorry...

 **Don't really have much else, so...reviews, I guess.**

 **NoItsBecky:** XD omg

I don't particularly like giving away positions, but I'll say this... Mettaton's role is a lot more serious in this than the original.

So, unfortunately, no spaghetti like these...

holy shit that would be amazing though.

(if someone draws this pls send me)

 **Ckbrothers:** Oh, this _is_ an odd AU alright. I think you know most of that though.

For anyone else bothering to read (because I'm pretty sure I already told you, Ck), I'm going to go out on a limb and say that out of every mind, Frisk's has been the most affected. But...maybe I should wait to say how.

 **Tatzbea:** Yeah...I hope so.

 **What Happened:** Uh...what...?

I'm not sure whether this is a question, an insult, or just a general observation...

Yes, I know it takes time to make stories. Trust me, I have quite a bit of experience with stories. But it's not ideas that I'm lacking in. Actually, quite the opposite. I've contemplated writing a PrequationTale (EquationTale _before_ Mettaton fell down). No, ideas aren't the problem...it's motivation that's the problem. I already have an idea of how things will play out in my head, so it sort of...disinterests me? Like I said at the start of the author's note, nothing's being brought out of this. I draw a little bit, and my friend's been making pixel sprites, but other than that, it's not really...inspiring people? That's the wrong term. I've had a few people say that I'm an "inspiration" or whatever. But, y'know, just a writing muse. I could do that with any story...

ug, I'm just sounding worse and worse the more I go. I'll shut up now.

Can't wait 'til next chapter. Last one in Snowdin, thankfully. I'm kind of not enjoying writing in Snowdin.


	15. This is actually important please read

I know we're not supposed to do place holders, but I need to say this now, and there's no other way of doing it (if any FanFiction mod is reading this, how about putting in an option to alert followers of the story/author, but not making the story go higher on the listings? That's what you're worried about, right? Someone spamming? That'd be an easy way to solve the issue).

 **First off,** I'm going to be taking a break. I really don't want to quit this. I say this about every story in a last-ditch effort to pull myself through, but I really, really don't want to quit this story.

That being said, it's getting kind of...old? I don't know. I just need a break.

 **Second,** there were a few things I wanted to say when I updated the chapter, but the chapter...isn't going to be updated for a while. So let's do that now.

 **1\. I made Her Theme.**

I've made hOI hOI bOI! and Alphys's Determination too, but to be honest, I'm not really proud of them. I'm actually happy with how Her Theme turned out. I mean, it's still kind of rough...my friend said to add somethings. I don't know. Maybe. But for now, I'm happy with it.

(soundcloud website, which it won't let me put, because filters) /kuraimusicbox/undertale-her-theme-equationtale-au

I also put together an EquationTale soundtrack. Uh, y'know, just the titles. Feel free to look at your own risk. It has spoilers for sure though.

(DeviantArt stash, which is "sta. sh" but without the space) /0ri5drarkv4

Sorry about the weird set up. Links are filtered so there's not much I can do.

 **2\. Someone made fanart!**

The first official fanart! See, this is the kind of stuff that makes me want to do this story! Reading reviews, seeing works inspired by my own... I know it's not good for that to be your main source of motivation, but that's what it is that keeps me going. After all, I kind of already know what's going to happen. So there's no fun there. This is all that keeps me moving along. That and free time, which school is taking up eight hours and then some of.

Since I still can't post links, Google Naminem DeviantArt and look in they're gallery, or Naminem EquationTale, or Naminem whatever. They're on DA. It's somewhere in there, and it's _REALLY FREAKIN' GOOD._

That Alphys and Temmi tho.

 **Quickly, I'll reply to reviews.**

 **Ck:** Mettaton's a bitch.

A sassy, badass bitch.

Deal with it.

 **NoItsBecky:** Everyone can draw :3 It just takes time.

As for the instrument, you don't need to play one to make music. That's what programs are for.

 **Tatzebea:** Oh? What's your AU?

 **Thank you guys for being patient.** You guys are the best.

IF I end up loosing all interest in this fanfic (emphasis on the 'if'), I will see if Jacky will be willing to pick it up. Jacky is very close, and he knows just about everything there is about EquationTale; I bounce ideas and everything off that guy. He has no obligation what-so-ever to continue, but there's no harm in asking. Then again, that is IF I lose interest, which I hope I don't. A last-ditch effort of sorts.

See you next chapter.


	16. I'll look fabulous either way

Snowdin is kind of boring.

Well, that's a bit of an understatement. For starters, what is "kind of"? It's such a subjective phrase… How can we know for certain how he feels, if "boring" is so open to interpretation? Okay, let's rephrase that.

Snowdin is _really_ boring.

To be fair, the full name was Snowdin _Town,_ and as the name implied, it was mostly homes. A bar, some weird igloo thing, a shop and an inn all were located within the town, but none of those seemed to catch his interest too much (well, not after he figured out that the weird igloo was just a giant slide). Alphys didn't seem all too interested in catching up with the locals anyway, and Mettaton couldn't care less. There was only one building that really caught his eye, that being the librar-...

...Librarby?

No no, that couldn't be right. He was reading that wrong, right? Maybe there was an issue with his eyes after all. Maybe he shouldn't be wearing glasses right now...or maybe he needed better ones?

"Alphys?"

When she realized the robot had stopped, the lizard skidded, turned toward the building that he had been examining, and brought one claw up to her lips, mostly out of habit.

"Um, yes, Mettaton?"

"What does that sign say?"

Alphys glanced up at the top of the building once she had caught up with the metal man. Her arms flew to the sides, stabilizing herself enough to keep from falling face-first into freezing white snow.

"Um," she said, eyes dancing across the board of a title. "Librarby."

He shifted his stance to one foot, head swaying, elbow jutting out as he spoke. "This is a place with books, right? You think they'd be able to spell at least the name of their own building."

The ghost, not recalling this building at first, simply shrugged. A library? Okay. That's cool, she guessed. But, um, time to move on now…

"C-can we go?" she stuttered as she tapped her hands together lightly. There were probably monsters in their, and they probably couldn't see her, but there was always a chance!

Without a second thought, the robot grasped the metal knob and proceeded to fling open the door. The warmth it offered tore at his face, enough to make him shy away from it by turning his head, if only for a brief moment.

Where they entered, the wooden floor was swept carefully underneath a black fuzzy welcome mat. The snow that Mettaton had dragged in with his heels fell as soon as they made contact, dripping half-frozen water onto the mostly-dry mat.

As his magenta eyes surveyed the area around him, Mettaton was able to take in quite a few details. For starters, the terribly small enclosure thankfully only held four people at that moment, excluding the two who had just entered. Several shelves lined the stone wall opposite them. Each of the four sides that made the building had their stones painted over with a light, calm cream color, matching the soft brown of the floor and shelving.

On the shelves themselves, each individual rectangular figure was pressed against one another, covers squeezing into summaries of the last. They were all categorized by color, as far as Mettaton could tell. Red on the farthest right, followed by a dark orange in color, continuing all the way down until one reached the true blue book jackets, a total of six different selections.

Light, peppy jazz played through dying speakers, accompanied by the scent of warm cookies that was pushed aside in favor of an overbearing amount of cologne as Mettaton turned to the man at the front desk.

"Hello," the man said. His eyes shut for a brief moment while offering the visible one a small wave with a yellow, leather-like hand. "Welcome to the library."

The robot darted his magenta eyes down beside him where a small gasp had been emitted. It was obvious the source- he had already expected her to be the source- so seeing her cower behind him and grab a hold of his purple shirt was nothing much out of the ordinary.

Mettaton redirected his attention back onto the lizard-like man behind the counter. Yellow. He was yellow. It was a much darker, faded yellow than Alphys's skin (scale?) tone, but still surprisingly similar, even down to the glasses.

He raised his finger, opposite hand tapping against the sturdy wooden surface.

"Your sign-"

"Yes," the lizard man cut in abruptly. "We know. The sign is misspelled."

"But you're a library!"

"M-Mettaton," Alphys muttered from behind him, tugging on his shirt brain. "W-we should keep moving…"

"Excuse me," another voice called, and the robot turned on his heel to see what looked like Mike Wazowski's cousin (round red body, a single yellow eye making up most of the surface, even red horns) taking a few steps closer. He reflexively jerked away, though caught himself so that he hadn't done much more than lean back and allow his arms to move toward his chest. Still, he kept his eyes on her.

"Yes? What is it?"

Her eye bobbed up and down as she examined the newcomer, causing a feeling of mild discomfort wash over him while she spoke. "I haven't seen you around here before."

Mettaton blinked. No, he wasn't from around here. But what was he supposed to say? _Uh, yeah, I fell down from the surface and you guys are extremely creeping me out._ That'll go over well.

"Oh, leave the poor thing alone," a cat across the table hissed, though a smile on her face as she did so. She was chewing on something- a cigarette, he was pretty sure. Her eyes fell lazily onto the robot, then lulled back to the other monster. "We've been getting a lot more tourists lately. She's probably one of the suckers from the Capitol."

"She?" the man at the counter chimed in. He eyed Mettaton with a questioning look, unsure of how to follow that. His tongue danced clumsily in his mouth, yet still he struggled to find how to ask. "Sorry, I-I thought you were…y'know..."

"A guy?" the red one finished with a small nod. "Yeah, I thought so too. What are you, honey?"

The robot blinked. He'd been male in his former life, though he wasn't always the most comfortable as one. But that was with his last body. Did this one even have genitalia? He hadn't needed to go to the bathroom since falling down. He couldn't _feel_ anything down there, or along his chest. Alphys had said she made the body a guy's, and he was pretty sure it looked like one what with the shoulders and other proportions, but the fact that people were questioning it made him feel...good, somehow. Perhaps it was the fact that he could pull off being a chick when it was needed (such as roles in performances), or better yet, he could wear dresses without being yelled at!

Still, though, Meckenzie had been taught that biology makes the gender. If that were the case, his "biology" would be whatever gears and wires were in the right places, which, uh…

"It doesn't really matter," the robot answered as he did his best to raise his voice a bit in its pitch. Hopefully, if he was lucky, it sounded at least gender neutral. "A star is still a star no matter what they're born as."

The fourth monster in the room perked up at those words. She chuckled softly, flattening the light pink dress that draped over her form. One of her hands was brought to her blonde hair, weaving through its coarse length to straighten out any knots, though there weren't very many to begin with.

"You're very flamboyant," she was able to say, though her voice very soft and delicate. It was almost as if Mettaton could reach out his hot pink high heels and stomp out that fragile flame of will.

He closed his eyes, mimicking her motion by sticking one metal hand through his nylon bangs and letting out a hum of thought. "I suppose you could say that."

"S-so you go by 'they'?" the man at the desk stuttered. His eyes darted once to the soft-spoken woman and then back on Mettaton, though continued dancing between the other monsters present.

Mettaton shrugged, his eyes closed and legs poised as he did so. "I don't particularly care one way or the other, darling. I'll look fabulous either way."

The four glanced about each other, though none of them seemed particularly disgusted, as the former human had a small tint of fear would happen. Instead, the man at the front desk pinched his glasses tighter to his face and pointed his nose down at whatever book was lying in front of him, the cat lady directed her attention to an old newspaper, torn at the corners, the red monster became fixated on whatever was outside the windows of the library, and the quiet one clutched her pencil just a bit tighter as she pressed it down against the paper in front of her. This was the one that our protagonist had taken an interest in, and, seeing as the interest in himself had died out, decided to meander on over to, peering over her shoulder at the contents of the paper.

" _...two spears, each clutched tightly in her muscular hands, and jabbed viciously at the purple hea…"_

Her pencil paused, and the taller snoop stood straighter as she turned to face him, his hands moving behind his back. However, there wasn't a trace of annoyance on her mellow complexion. She simply smiled at him. "Yes?"

He could feel the familiar grip of his companion's claws coil around his shirt, but he paid no mind. She was shaking, he was fairly sure, but when was she not?

Mettaton shook his head, offering a smile in return and then turning away.

"I love working on the newspaper," Mettaton could hear the woman remark as he faced the bookshelf, eyes gracing the brim of the yellow covers. His metallic hands reached out for one that had been held at eye level, and he lifted it out of its spot, flipping to some random page near the middle.

 _*Because they are made of magick,_ he could hear Alphys read out loud, but didn't bother stop her, _monsters' bodies are attuned to their SOUL._

 _*If a monster doesn't want to fight, its defenses will weaken._

 _*And the crueler the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us…_

 _*Therefore, if a being with a p-powerful S-SOUL st-struck with the desire to...to kill…_

He could hear her voice waver before feeling a slight push as Alphys's hand made contact with the robot's, urging the book back in. When he looked down to ask why, she simply offered worried eyes as a response. The two remained locked in this position for a moment before she could finally clear her throat to speak.

 _*Um, l-let's e-end the chapter here…_

He gave a small sigh, but still placed the book gently back in its place.

"Symmoh?" Mettaton heard the man at the front desk call, at which he spun about on his heel to face him. His eyes darted to the three ladies seated across from him. One- the soft-spoken yellow one- rose from her seat with a slight nod before pacing over to the counter.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering when you'd have the next issue ready."

"I don't know. We still need to edit the interview with Sam before we can submit it."

The man huffed, tapping his fingers gently against the desk and leaning forward ever-so-slightly, free hand doing its best to prop up his cheek. "The deadline is Sunday."

"It's almost finished," the red monster added as her gaze shifted over to the pair. "Don't worry so much, Dashy."

"Dashyd," the motherly woman repeated, though with his full name this time. Her hand reached for his own that was lying on the desk, and their fingers intertwined, her smile never bothering to fade from her expression. "It's just about done. We have plenty of time."

Dashyd sighed in response. He said something, but Mettaton didn't particularly care to pay attention. His nose was too busy being buried in the book that had been left lying open beside the man. His magenta eyes darted across the lines inside the crimson cover, soaking up each word they were met with.

" _They raised their hand, signalling another blast from the head behind them and a ray of light to sweep across the battlefield. "Please!" they cried. "I don't want to do this! Can't we just stop?" But the man carried on, and so too did the child with the red bat."_

"You, uh, like my book?"

Mettaton froze, eyes darting up at the man standing before him. Dashyd still didn't look upset (the robot was starting to think you physically couldn't piss them off), but that didn't stop a slight heat from making its way onto the robot's cheeks. Slight. Just...play it cool, Mettaton. You weren't snooping in this guy's journal. Totally.

He straightened his back.

"The four sentences I've read seem very interesting."

Dashyd chuckled, giving a small nod as he ran his fingers along the edge of the crimson cover. "I've been working on it for a little while. I have to admit, though, my wife's a better writer than I am."

"Dashyd," the yellow monster whined, just barely loud enough for Mettaton to hear. There was a light blush on her face, and it wasn't helping by the way the cat lady beside her elbowed her in the ribs. It was a light shove in Mettaton's opinion, though the way Symmoh winced might have disproved that thought.

The cat then laughed. "C'mon, Symmoh. You know you're the writer of the group."

"Regina…"

The robot cleared his throat, loud enough for the pairs of eyes (or, uh, eye) to swivel his way. He paused, words running through his brain for but a brief moment before he fluttered his lashes and struck a stunning pose. "I'm looking for how to get to Hotland." This place was boring, these people were strange, and he just wanted out.

The cat let out a small puff of her cigarette, tying her dark, curly hair off with a faded pink scrunchy before tapping the table gently. "Hotland?"

He nodded. "The Lab, specifically."

A slight unease fell in the air as the married couple tensed their muscles for half a second before turning their eyes down at the floor. While the husband made a quick recovery from this, looking back up at Mettaton with a half-smile, his wife continued to stare downward. She...didn't seem as thrilled.

"You have to get through Waterfall to reach Hotland," the red one piped in before any of the other four could get a word. "Try talking to River Pants. His boat's pretty fast and he'll be able to get you there no problem."

"They'll be fine, hun." Regina eyed her two sullen friends with a slight glint in her expression, toying with her whiskers as she did so. "You just struck a bad nerve."

"I didn't intend to," Mettaton defended, his shoulders falling slightly.

Dashyd shook his head, propping both palms up against the counter and pushing, giving himself a slight boost in height. "No, it's fine. We're alright." He then sighed.

Unsure of what else to say, our protagonist simply shrugged and strode out the door. He hadn't meant to bring up something sour; he didn't even know that it was the wrong thing to say! Why should he apologize? They said they'd be fine, and that was that. Nothing else to say here.

However, upon closing the door behind him and turning around to face the freshly falling snow, Mettaton noticed something about the monster he'd been ignoring for most of the time in the Librarby. She was close by, naturally, hunched over, as always. What was strange wasn't her posture or even her expression, but the fact that there were actually tears dripping down her cheeks. She was rubbing at them, but even so, they continued to fall, disappearing as soon as they threatened to leave the contact of her ghostly body. Ignoring that last fact, she was crying.

It was enough to make him kneel beside her, arms reached out though not yet touching the pale ectoplasmic scales, hovering just above them. "Darling, are you alright? What happened?"

Alphys didn't bother to open her mouth. She shook her head.

"But, Alphys-"

"L-let's just...k-keep going…"

 _*Perseverance._

* * *

 **Remember when I said this was the last chapter in Snowdin?**

Hah, I lied.

Well, I mean, unless you don't count the Temmie fight as being part of Snowdin. I still have no idea how I'm gonna write that ._.

 **Update schedule:**

I'll still be uploading on Sundays, but which Sundays...aren't exactly certain. I'm hoping to get a chapter up next weekend as well, since I have this week off school, but no guarantees. When school's in session?

Hah, _definitely_ no guarantees there.

 **I'm thinking about making something called ForumTale.**

Honestly, I don't know XD It's just this stupid idea I have about replacing all the UnderTale characters with the dorks on the first UnderTale forum. Wanted to see how many of you would read that. Pretty sure they would, or at least some of them, but you guys? Not too sure.

I'm Undyne, if that helps any.

Meh.

 **I don't really have much else, so...reviews, I guess.**

 **NoItsBecky:** "We're patient."

I hope.

I don't mind anything, though! Maybe I didn't make it clear... _I don't care about the quality of your work, as long as you try._ Just anything at all makes me happy! If you spend five seconds on it then it's obvious and no one cares. But if you put your heart and soul into it, just the fact that it's inspired from my work, as selfish as that may sound, is a very nice thing to see! So please, don't feel pressured. But if you _want_ to do something and are only worried about whether or not it'll look/sound nice, don't be.

 **Tatzebea:** Uh...I can't find anything on Tumblr for that (there's only one post under the tag and it's not really anything...), but I found some stuff on DeviantArt for it, like Flowey the Cactus and Undyne as an alligator or crocodile or something (I don't know the difference lol). Is that it? Because I saw a reoccurring artist, so if you're Lyna-Rosengald, then holy shit, your art is amazing!

 **FriskedAway:** Aw, thank you! I haven't heard anyone talk about my style before. How do you even tell the difference between styles? I can only really see descriptive or not. Haha...

 **AmamillaLaTortilla:** We talked about this already XD but I'm glad other people are enjoying Mettaton as the star. I have a love/hate view of him, but he sure is fun to write for!


	17. Temtrousle

**For the best experience, listen to "Undertale - Bonetrousle - Snowdin mix - (lullaby cover)" by Chi-Chi on YouTube.**

* * *

"Hooman."

For once during the time the former human had spent after existing the Ruins, Mettaton didn't feel like his ears were bleeding from how loud that tem was. He was half-expecting to wince by now, and he almost did, until he realized that she wasn't actually being that obnoxious. This only caused him to stare at her in disbelief.

Well, that, and the fact that she didn't have on her regular blue-and-yellow-striped shirt. Her light blue boots still remained, however, the rest had been replaced with a cardboard box painted a sloppy silver color. Holes had been cut in the side where her arms poked out, as well as one on the top, this one substantially wider to allow enough room for her head to poke through. The bottom was left open with what Mettaton was able to recognize as the lid flaps dangling from Temmie's sides. Some of the silver near the top of the box had been covered in an inch or two of falling snow that shook as Temmie eagerly bounced up and down in the frozen downpour.

She was lucky; she had fur. Mettaton's response, however, to the much heavier blanket that was coming down upon them was to wrap his arms around his chest and shiver. "What on Earth are you wearing?" Naturally, this was the most important thing to worry about.

"Temy armor," she replied, her smile still ever-present on her face, though voice no where near as sing-song as Mettaton remembered it being. In her front paw was a long white bone at least three-quarters the size of her, though Mettaton was willing to guess more if he had to make a bet. Temmie swung it high, letting it tread air for about half a second before holding out her front appendages and letting it fall into her outstretched arms. Behind her, a box of...something. It was hard to make out what it was with the blizzard around them, but he could at least make out a box of _something_. Probably the same kind of cardboard box Temmie crafted her "armor" out of.

"Mmhmm." Mettaton might have taken a bit more interest in the strange furry in front of him, in what was in the box behind her, why she had a bone nearly as tall as her and all that other wonderful stuff if he wasn't too busy freezing his metal off. Seriously, where was a coat when you needed one?

"Hooman," she repeated, a little bit louder this time but still in a voice that made it seem like she _wasn't_ hopped up on four gallons of coffee. "Lemme tell u sum complex feels. Liek…"

Temmie swung the bone around and planted it in the ground, freeing up one paw to rub her chin thoughtfully. "...findin another temmi flake luver. da overwhelming urge to pet some1 SUPER CUTE!"

She then removed her paw, wrapping both of them around the bone and leaning into it while closing her eyes. "The desire 2 have cute person think ur cute. U MUS BE FEELIN DEM!"

The robot shut his eyes and let out a sigh. He would've argued most likely, but the majority of his energy went to simply keeping warm. How long was her speech going to be, anyway? It couldn't drag on forever. She wasn't _that_ dumb...hopefully.

"But das okay," Temmie continued in her semi-serious sounding tone. If Mettaton didn't know any better, he'd almost think that she was trying to be sympathetic. "Temmie dun no wot das like becuz Temmie have Frisk! But hooman…"

Her eyelids drooped, eyes trailing to the ground. "Hooman dun have Frisk...or other tems…"

No, he didn't. Quite frankly, he didn't want to either.

When she looked up, the tem had a small smile on her face and a spark of... _something_ in her eyes. Hope? Empathy? Pity? It was hard to tell, but she was certainly trying to display some type of emotion for Mettaton to pick up on. He just didn't care.

"I'll be your friend."

He then opened his eyes, almost out of shock. That sentence was grammatically correct.

"What?"

"I'll be your friend," she repeated, smile widening as she took a step forward. One paw swung to her hip, mimicking Mettaton's pose, and the other flew up straight in the air. She leaned her weight onto one foot. "See! I can pose liek u!"

"That's nice, darling, but I don't thi-" Mettaton was cut off when he noticed her dropping to all fours and proceeding to bound forward. He threw his arms out in front of him, just barely managing to have them up in time before she tackled him, chest against chest (or, uh, cardboard box), wrapping her own arms tightly around his abdomen and then proceeding to nuzzle the robot.

"We're gonna be da best friends!" Temmie squealed, adding a small hop into her stance. "We can pose an do coote things together an TOTALLY NOT FLEX BECUZ FLEXING IS NUT CUTE!"

"What is your _problem_?" The robot leveraged his hands underneath her chest area and offered the box of cardboard that had been lazily put together a weak push, doing little to make the tem move. This continued for perhaps a second or two before she suddenly let out a gasp, stood as straight as her back would allow her, and released him from her grasp.

"What am I doin?!"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know. What _are_ you doing?"

"I can't be friends wit u!" she cried- quite literally, cried, tears dotting the corners of her eyes- as she leapt several steps back. "Ur hooman! I can't be friends wit hooman… Frisk's dad wud not be verr happy. I have 2 capture u!"

Capture him? Okay, wow. Now she wanted to capture him. Not all those times he could have been caught off guard, no, _now_ she wanted to capture him? He chuckled. "Please, by all means, feel free to try."

"Okee!" Temmie's left arm popped back into her box and she yanked it out but half a second later, paw clutching something. It was hard to tell what as she swung her arm high above her head, though, upon the thrust forward, which was followed by the release, the poorly-crafted rope net became fairly obvious. It was at least decent enough to spread apart, taking up enough area to cover the robot's head, though it was much too short to get anywhere past his shoulders. He winced as it made contact.

"What are you doing!?"

"Das a net I made for Frisk's dad for when I train wit him!"

Mettaton's hands coiled around the thin strands that held it together, ripped it off his head and flung it back toward the crazy tem. "Then throw it at him, not me!"

"I will!" she yelled back proudly, though her smile still on her face as she did so. It seemed to be more of an eager one than a defensive one, if Alphys could hear correctly from her position behind the robot. It seemed to be her favorite position; she considered herself lucky the others couldn't see.

"I will!" Temmie repeated, once more thrusting her paw out toward the robot, the other one moving to her hip. "I will when I capture u! Because den, DEN! U will be lookin' at de face of the FIRST! _Royal Guardstem!_ "

There was a small pinch of pressure along Mettaton's chest as a bright purple light seeped through the cracks of his robotic body. It was weaker than normal, but it was still definitely there, pouring out from his abdomen. The same purple heart ( _his_ purple heart) hovered directly above those same buttons that his eyes had grown used to by now.

 _*Special enemy Temmie appears here to defeat you!_ he could hear Alphys cheer, and he rolled his eyes. She seemed to get rather happy around the tems. That's nice, he supposed, though didn't particularly care one way or the other. Mettaton let his hand waver as he shifted posture, moving it away from the 'Check' option.

"Good lord you are annoying," the robot muttered, not even bothering to check where his heart had landed. "Do you honestly expect to get into something so prestigious as the Royal Guard with _that_ kind of attitude? When Frisk told me I had to play along, I thought this was supposed to be some sort of _game._ I thought you were just doing some silly, stupid roleplaying or whatever it is someone as aggravatingly stupid as you would do. You were seriously trying to capture me? I've seen seven-year-old internet trolls do better than you! All you've been throwing at me are pointless "puzzles" that aren't even finished, but when you _finally_ find something _useful_ and come up with a semi-decent plan, the thing isn't even half my size! How, exactly, have you been planning to capture me this entire time, when you haven't even tried? And don't tell me what you did was trying, because it's not. It's not anywhere close."

The robot paused for a moment, grinding his teeth together to pull his arms tighter around his freezing chest.

"If you're _really_ supposed to be hunting humans, why haven't you attempted to hit me or knock me out in some other way? Or, I don't know, actually doing your _job_? If you're _really_ trying to capture me, why did you just call me your friend? That's the exact _opposite_ of what you're supposed to be doing! And, f.y.i., I never asked for that. There's no way I would want to be friends with an annoying furry bag of caffeine that acts like she's five. You are the _worst_ possible candidate to become a Royal Guard member, and I highly doubt Frisk's dad would _ever_ let you join, even if he had to start _dragging_ others to take your spot!"

The air around them grew still. Perhaps it was the cold that had been putting Mettaton on edge, perhaps he didn't truly mean his words (or perhaps he did), but it didn't matter now. Sticks and stones can break one's bones, but words, coming from the Purple SOUL, are the one of the harshest attacks one could experience. It wouldn't be the first time he let his tongue slip to someone that didn't deserve it, but Temmie couldn't have known that. The blanket of silence swept over them only momentarily, broken by Temmie sniffling not once, but twice, taking several large steps backwards as she did so. Her light blue boots skidded against the snow they were dragged across, and on the third sniffle, her traction gave way to the frozen ground beneath her, and she felt herself become clutched in gravity's icy grasp, breaking free only when her bum had hit the hard floor that awaited her. She did not mind this, though; her attention was more focused on shutting her eyes, letting out a few whimpers as her front paws pressed into the ice beneath her and feeling the water begin to dot her eyes before it spilled over the sides. Her tears streamed down her cheeks like a waterfall, though a silent one at first that didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. It wasn't truly silent, however, as her voice box wavered with the mental agony that washed over her. The noises it should have been producing became choked up with the stuffy sensation that lined her throat. They came out in sporadic bursts, weighing down any actual words that wanted to express how she felt. She couldn't do that. Her dreams had all been swiped from underneath her button nose. What point was there to express herself when she had been reduced to a shriveled, sobbing mess?

The first noise Alphys made was a gasp. Both hands were covering her mouth as she slowly slid out from behind her protection. A few of her own tears had been left to rest just beyond her eyes, but she felt them being pushed out as more made their way to the surface. That poor, poor tem… How could Mettaton say such things? She glanced up at him, eyes filled with watery questions. _Why?_ Maybe it was just her relating to such ambition, but how could someone possibly go about crushing dreams like that? So what if she probably wouldn't be able to make it in? You don't know that, Mettaton! You shouldn't be crushing her self esteem like that…

Though Alphys probably doesn't have much of a right to talk, now does she?

She didn't. She didn't open her mouth once past that initial gasp. She did stare up at Mettaton with a questioning look mixed with both shock and traces of empathy, though made no move more than this. To say she was angry with him would be well past exaggerating. He had to have a reason for his motives, right? There had to be a reason. She just wasn't sure what.

Meanwhile, Mettaton was just...standing there. One hand over his hip, the other arm dangling limply from his side, weight poised as if he were having just a casual conversation. His face, however, read completely the opposite. His eyes were wide and, though the only one of the three currently not crying, he sure wasn't spared from the discomfort of guilt. In fact, that was likely the emotion that held him the most at that moment, wrapping around his cold metal exterior and weaving through his wires like flowers along an open casket. This wasn't normal. Sure, he let his tongue slip on several occasions, but the people he hissed at had always fought back or stormed off in a hissy fit. No one ever _cried_ from him, or at least, not within his line of sight.

But now, here lie Temmie in a tearful mess, her dreams slaughtered and stuffed into that same casket Alphys had set the flowers down on. Once he was finally able to move his body, his eyes darted to his side, shoulders drooping, scanning over his companion who was not giving him a look of shame, but one little word: why?

Mettaton sighed. His hot pink boots crunched against the fallen snow for a few steps before he knelt, letting his fingers curl around the frost-colored bone. This was then tilted upright, toward him, dragged forward an inch or so and lifted up off the ground before sliding into both of his hands and being held out to the tem.

A moment passed that they stayed like this, the anthropomorphic cat/dog creature weeping into her arms, the bystander remaining off to the side of the event, wishing there was something she could do without being seen, and the cause of Tem's emotional distress genuflecting in front of her. Mettaton's knee shifted, however, causing a rush of cold to sweep through his system. He bit his metal lip.

"Temmie," he called, careful to watch his tongue as it danced with the foreign name. "Please, open your eyes."

She complied, albeit rubbing her eyes for several more moments before doing so.

They were glistening, Mettaton could tell, in the little light that was passing through. From this distance, he could hear her frantic breath begin to slow, though if he had to guess, it would be because of him requesting her to show her face instead of feeling any better.

They stayed locked in each others' gaze for about half a moment before she trailed her eyes down at the bone in Mettaton's hands. There was still water pouring down her matted cheeks, but she ignored it for the time being, gracing her paw against the item she had held before.

A small smile crossed the former human's face as the monster before him sniffled a few more times, leaned forward and gently took the bone from out of Mettaton's hands.

"I didn't mean to make you cry," he said in a slow, stern voice. "That's not what I had intended."

He paused, shifting his weight ever-so-slightly to the side and dragging his hand (and likewise, his heart) with it. Though, he didn't bother to check where his heart hand gone. Who would? Both travelers were much more concerned with the crying to think about something as trivial as that.

After a while of Temmie's sniffles to fill the void between them, Mettaton sighed, muttering something akin to a phrase he doesn't particularly care to mutter, and yet, still found himself doing so anyway.

"...I'm sorry."

Temmie blinked a few times, her tears being pushed to the sides in the process. Sorry? "You mean it?"

He nodded. "I never thought what I said would make you that upset." No, Mettaton, you just didn't think. There's a difference.

She smiled none-the-less, rubbing her paws against her cheeks to clear the water from them before it froze. It was a soft smile, a small one, one that could easily be washed away by more tears, but still a smile. It was at least semi-comforting.

"So Temmie can get into Royal Guard?"

Oh, well, he wouldn't go _that_ far…

The robot paused, eyes rolling upward for a moment before being able to greet the tem again. "I think that if you want to get into something like the Royal Guard, which I assume is a very serious position, you may need to act a bit more...professional."

"Okee," she said as if she understood, though the unchanging expression and blank stare seemed to signal otherwise.

And so, our protagonist sighed. "Or maybe you could just beg and act cute enough to convince them."

She gasped, her eyes brightening while her grip around the weapon tightened. "U really think so?!"

"On second thought, maybe you're too cute to be part of the Royal Guard." Yeah… Mettaton's picturing some Renaissance-esque league of knights, and if he were captain of that, he definitely wouldn't let this girl in on accounts of just being too childlike.

Though the Temmie perked up even more at the semi-insult. "U relly think so!?"

"Absolutely."

"Well TEmmie gunna b in it ne way!"

He rolled his eyes. Of course she was. He's learned his lesson on arguing about this dream of hers. Still, there was a smile on his face. The quicker he comforted her, the quicker he could get out of here. Obviously that's the only reason he cared.

For the third time, Temmie gasped, and she attempted to stand up, though struggled with the cardboard box around her torso and fell back on her bum.

"Dear, maybe we should take that thing off of you."

"U FINELLY REVEAL UR ULTIMATE FEELINS!1!"

He blinked. "What?"

"U insult meh, but den u call meh coote! U dun think I'm bad- ur actuelly just a prickly cactus!"

"... _What?_ "

"Is true!" Temmie placed both paws on the ground behind her and pushed herself to her feet, knees bent but then springing up like a pop rock. "U actelly secretly like me! :D"

"I never said tha-"

She leapt backward, however, landing with her feet spread apart at just less than a 90 degree angle in some sort of battle-like stance. Her body bounced with a newfound energy, and the first picture that popped into both Mettaton's and his companion's heads was a warrior from one of those lively Japanese cartoons.

"I akcept ur offer 4 dATE!"

"Date?" Mettaton tilted his head. "You're trying to capture me. I never said anything about a date."

"Let's date later!"

The robot shook his head, biting back another insult. He really didn't feel like dealing with this five-year-old breaking down for a second time. He could see her lifting the tall bone high into the air, waving it about like some sort of sword, and then thrusting it out toward the robot.

"HOOMAN! PREPARE 4 TEM'S SPECIEL ATTAK!"

 _*Temmie prepares her special attack._

"Special attack?" He tilted his head, hands on his hips and leaning forward ever-so-slightly. "Where did you get that bone at, anyway?"

"Frisk's dad."

"Of course."

She punched the air in front of her, grin twisting into one of pride and determination, eyes narrowing as she spoke. "He sed I remind him off his bro. Dat tEMMIE act lot liek Papyru! Den he gave me a bone dat Papyruss left at Undyn'es house a loooooong time ago! It was all rotting n stuff. BUT! Temmie cleaned it an now it's all betterer!"

Mettaton opened his mouth to speak but didn't have a chance to get a word in. Temmie immediately sprang off the ground, twisted around to turn her back to him, twirled the bone into one paw, flung her free one down into the box behind her and yanked out a handful of colored paper shreds.

"HOOMAN! Perpare 4 my SPECIAL ATTACK!"  
She then flung the pieces into the air around Mettaton, who stood there blankly, watching the scraps fall to the cold snow before refocusing his attention back on the tem.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

Temmie blinked a few times. A quizzical expression entered her face as she stared at the bits mixed with fallen snow but quickly bat it away as a light bulb appeared over her head.

"OOH! I furgot da magick!"

She reached down, only this time, when Temmie withdrew the pieces of scraps from the box behind her and spun back around, she paused, cupping her paws together and closing her eyes. At first, there was no movement. The robot had to take a step or two forward just to hold his interest. After a moment or so, however, a small light began to glow between her paws. Her eyes shot open as a heat emitted from the light. This was then thrust into the air above the two, scattering each piece of confetti across the open air. The difference between these and what lay on the ground soon became clear to both the robot and his companion, colored light reflecting off of the lens of his glasses and most likely would have off of hers, too, had she been alive to experience it. The torn bits of color shone like rainbow stars, though moved more like fireflies, still falling to the ground as their predecessors had, but much slower. It almost seemed as if they were Christmas lights, strung on some invisible string that weaved through a spider's web, waving gently with the breeze and glistening with the crystal white snow.

Mettaton could hear his partner let out a gasp, mirroring Temmie's own previous ones. He himself did not display such admiration. His eyes did go wide at the color display, watching as crystals rained down on him like parrot feathers, but this was all his mind had bothered to show. Wide eyes, magenta ones that sparkled like the dance before him.

Out of the corner of his vision, the protagonist managed to spot his companion reach out as one of the lights slowly descended upon her. Just as it would have graced her hands, it chose instead to pass through her, and that expression of astoundment dropped with just a hint of disappointment.

Mettaton could tell. He smiled at her softly, waiting until she was looking his way to hold out his own hands, cupping them together and catching a green wisp. It was warm. Though only slightly so, it still felt nice against the bitterness nipping at his metal, pushing away the snowflakes that seemed to want to fall onto his frosted fingers. His eyes, after staring at the oddity that touched him, would swivel back up at this tem with a bit of both astonishment and curiosity.

"Are these supposed to hurt?"

To this, Temmie gulped down more air, her enthusiastic smile morphing into a more rounded shape. "OH NU! Temmie can't evn stop someone as week as u… Frisk's dad gunna be disapointed… an den I'll nevre join da Royal Guard…"

"Tem, come on. What did we just go over?"

She didn't reply, however. Temmie skittered down the pathway without so much as a single sniff. Though a part of Mettaton screamed to go after her, he stayed put, merely watching her outline become lost in the thick blanket that fell between them.

 **Temmie's (kind of) epilogue**

Frisk's attention wasn't really anywhere at that moment in time. They stared rather absentmindedly at the television screen in front of them. There were only three good channels, two of which held nothing but commercials. How boring.

A half-empty beer bottle was being swirled about in their palm as they felt the tears mat down their cheeks, though they still refused to tear their eyes away. It wasn't until the sound of a plastic flap slapping against wood echoed into the somewhat messy living room that they bothered to move their head, and, at seeing who it was that caused such a sound, they proceeded to leap over the back of the couch, their feet making a soft clunk against the carpet and socks pressing against it as they bounded toward her.

Temmie didn't have much of a chance to reply before she was taken into her roommate's arms, which wrapped tightly around her furry torso. Something in the back of Frisk's mind nagged at them to ask where her tem armor had went, but they pushed the thought aside for now.

"thank god you're okay," the human muttered, breathing deeply against their roommate's shoulder.

"Why would I not be?" she replied, though her voice was soft and faintly shaking.

This was when Frisk would pull their head up to stare at the monster before them.

"Tem... you're crying…"

Temmie shook her head. "I'm okay."

"No you're not. What happened?"

The monster's faux smile fell. A moment of silence drifted between them, but eventually, she did reply. "...Frisk? Do you think I'd be okay in the Royal Guard?"

They blinked in reply, though their arms still wrapped around the other's chest as they stared at her. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Because… I couldn't capture human…"

And this was when Frisk would reach out to grab both of their friend's arms, placing one paw on the left side of their black tee and the other on the right. They pressed a smile onto their face. "You caught me."

Temmie, though still a little bit uncertain, giggled. Even though she had originally moved in with Frisk just to get closer to their dad, she was more than happy to have stayed.

* * *

 **WARNING: Underage drinking is bad.**

(pleasedontsueme)

 **Ah...just as I'm growing fond of Temmie.**

I think why I disliked writing her was because I saw her as more of a one trick pony...just a joke character. And she is in UnderTale. But if she's going to be in Papyrus's spot, she needs more of an actual personality.

I think I got something.

...hopefully.

 **No, Mettaton's not just a straight up dick.**

Trust me, he has his reasons for doing things. Just...read a bit closer if you can't see it? I'm sorry, that's just something I feel like needs to be discovered on its own. I'll answer individual people asking me privately why a character did something, but not here, where everyone can see. Things are best left up for interpretation :3

 **Reviews!**

 **NoItsBecky:** Same.

 **Tatzebea:** You could try, but I have no idea where to look. The inbox?

I'm really excited to get to Waterfall, though, so even though break is ending, hopefully my spark is still there!

 **Ck:** Most of my chapters are just about adding character depth XD

 **FriskedAway:** Ah, Mettaton's gender. Here's where things get a bit complex.

Now, as stated before, I like leaving things open for interpretation. For anyone reading this that doesn't care one way or the other about his gender or would like to keep your own headcannon, by all means, feel free to ignore this. I really don't mind. (or, if you want the short answer, skip straight to the bottom)

Let's start off with the basics.

Meckenzie (which was Mettaton's human name before he died) was born male. Y'know, with a dick. Now I could rant forever about gender (those who know me personally know exactly what I'm talking about), but frankly, I don't feel like spilling out my personal opinions here. This is a character. A character does not necessarily reflect the author's or the reader's opinions/beliefs/morals. So please, follow with me, and try not to get upset. Okay? Because there's probably _someone_ out there that will.

Now, growing up, Meckenzie was much more into the dresses, skirts, makeup, dress up, dolls...the _girl's_ toys. This does not necessarily make him anything. Just because he plays with girl's stuff and wears girl's clothes doesn't automatically make him a tranny or whatever. So he likes playing with girl's shit. Big deal.

He never particularly grew out of that phase, though.

That also does not mean he's a girl or a boy. He likes wearing girl's clothes. He likes wearing makeup, high heels; he likes looking _pretty_. So take that as you will.

The problem with me giving a straight "boy" or "girl" or "nonbinary" answer is that he himself doesn't have one. He's only nineteen, and for almost all of his teen years, he's been yelled at for wearing dresses, scolded for trying makeup, and probably the most important, insisted that biology makes the gender.

Again, whether or not you believe that, I really don't care. Accept it or not, I don't care. It's the character.

He was never allowed to question his gender. Because of this, he really hasn't had much time to explore it. It feels good to be mistaken for a girl, but he isn't exactly _against_ being called a guy, either. After all, he's used to it by now.

 _The shortest answer I can give you is that he doesn't know what he is, so I don't know what he is._


	18. What do you think of Temmie?

**I OPENED AN ASK FOR EQUATIONTALE!**

See the bottom for details.

* * *

As the pair continued forward, they were thrust into a dense fog that pushed the snow away like the presence of a lion leaping proudly forward, letting out a loud roar and scattering the field mice around it. It was dense at first, so much so, in fact, that they could see more in the blizzard behind them than they could three inches in front of their face.

The cold pressed around them and into the robot's metallic skin just as thickly as the fog, both beginning to let loose to a warmer, clearer atmosphere once the sound of rushing water entered their perception.

"We're in Waterfall," Mettaton heard his companion state as a few glowing mushrooms(?) came into sight.

He glanced down at Alphys with a smile, though looked away upon noticing the fog pass through her.

"Up ahead should be the Dump! W-well, really far ahead."

The robot nodded, his mouth staying shut. The thicket around them parted its airy vegetation in order to grant the duo passage through the Garden of Eden. Mettaton felt his shoulders relax as the fog cleared and they entered their rainy paradise.

The ground beneath his high heels was wet, he noticed, though his eyes had already taken in the river and waterfalls behind them. What he was more concerned with was the child in front of them, the one perched on a rather dark stone ledge. A few steps closer, and Mettaton could make out that this was, in fact, a very steep ledge that the child was poised on, with a waterfall just about a foot or two away from them. They swung their legs over the side, dangling however high up they were- hundreds of feet? Thousands? Who knows? And their arms? Their arms must be under their poncho! Or...sleeveless shirt? They had arms, right?

He looked over the side again, then took several steps in the opposite direction.

Mettaton didn't even notice the mournful look on Alphys's face or the snow on top of the empty wooden sentry station as he turned to face the orange monster that stood...sat…? in the corner. It had an fish-like tail that it was standing (sitting?) on top of and two black, hollow eyes, staring directly into the human's heart.

"This is an echo flower," it said. "It repeats the same thing it heard, over and over…"

The robot then turned his attention to the blue flower, his eyes becoming captivated for a split second by the faint glow it emitted, however was able to tear them away when another shimmer caught his magenta vision, this one much more familiar than the glow of the echo flower.

Mettaton reached into his bag to pull out his notebook and was about to sit down, when something flashed in the corner of his eyes. In the sentry station beside him, a teenager sat, coat lopsided with uneven buttons and crinkles, as if it had just been flung on, as well as heavy shadows underneath their eyes. Their hair was a complete mess, strands flying about in every direction. Their black T-shirt underneath became evident, though despite this look, the human still looked like they'd just heard the best joke in the world.

"Frisk?" Mettaton asked in almost disbelief. The kid hadn't been there before, had they? He certainly didn't think so…

They turned to face him with a wide grin, throwing in a small wink with it. "Hey, cutie. Is it hot in here or did your internal fan system crash?"

He glanced over at Alphys, who had finally managed to tear her eyes away from the kid sitting on the ledge and began to chuckle. Was there something he was missing? What the heck was an internal fan system?

"Excuse me?"

The human shrugged. "I'm gonna head out on break now. You wanna go grab some Java?"

From Alphys's half-twisted smile, Mettaton assumed that was supposed to be some sort of joke, but he didn't particularly care at that moment. "We have to keep moving."

Frisk, however, didn't seem to catch the hint, and they slid out from behind the counter, revealing a pair of knee-length brown cargo shorts. "Aw, c'mon. Just for a few minutes?"

The robot sighed. "Frisk, we _need_ to keep goin-"

"Nice bolts. Wanna screw?"

He then shut his eyes, bringing one hand up to pinch his nose and letting out yet again another, this time shorter, breath of air. "Just because you have wifi doesn't mean you should connect with everyone who sends you a signal."

Instead of the response Mettaton was expecting, which involved becoming slightly offended, as most people often were at his remarks (either that or absolutely enthralled- it went either way), the human placed one hand over their chest and laughed, smile tearing at their closed eyes as they leaned over the corner of the counter they stood beside. "That's great. I'll have to keep that one back here."

They then gestured toward the station, shook their head, and opened their eyes to look back to Mettaton.

"Anyway. You wanna go now?"

"You're not going to take a no, are you?"

"Ah… You know me so well."

They held out their hand, which Mettaton stared over for a moment before reluctantly meeting it with his own.

Frisk smiled, their boots sloshing against the wet stone floor as they paced forward. "C'mon. I know a shortcut."

 _Shortcut to where?_ he wanted to ask. He felt a second hand grab hold of his metal arm, but paid no mind to it; it was familiar enough that he knew who the claws belonged to without even looking.

Mettaton blinked. He hadn't thought much of it, as it was such a natural thing to do, but when he reopened his eyes, the cold re-engaged his system and snow fluttered softly about the two. They were just outside the bar in Snowdin.

"When…?"

"Fast shortcut, huh?"

Our protagonist narrowed his magenta eyes at the human who stood beside him. There was something about the way they smiled so innocently, snow fluttering about them, eyes lazily sliding to the entrance doors, that screamed there was something strange going on. Then again, there was something strange about _everyone_ here, so maybe he shouldn't think too much about it.

" _The Armory"_ the brick wall read in fancy cursive letters. Mettaton had just managed to catch this as the two made their way inside. Well, three, technically, though she didn't need to use the door.

Inside wasn't too bad. There was a wooden floor beneath them and several torches lining the walls. A couple taps were stationed behind the counter, one of which was currently in use by a monster dressed in full body armor (other than his head piece, which had been removed to reveal a green, scaly complexion, pointed...ears?, and a long snout; the guy almost reminded Mettaton of a dragon, but surely those only exist in fantasy). He held a mug underneath it while a bubbly, beer-colored flui- wait, was that beer?

Seeing the two approach, the dragon anthro set the mug down on the counter just as Frisk slid into a seat. He gave a small nod, accompanied with a smile, to which Frisk returned the gesture and began chugging it.

"That's not alcohol, is it?" the former human questioned.

Frisk's eyes widened. They froze, letting the mug linger over their lips before bringing it back down onto the hard counter. Oh, right, uh…

"No, it's…" Their eyes darted about the area surrounding them in an effort to summon any inspiration for a small fib, however, their mind was not trained for such a thing. It normally fell silent in times words were needed. It was only just recently Frisk was being able to pull themself out of that. "...it's fine. I have a high tolerance."

The used-to-be human frowned. "You said you were sixteen."

And, in return, the current human shrugged. "The monsters don't care."

Their gaze fell down to the counter as Mettaton's lingered on the teenager for just a little longer before giving a mental shrug. _He_ certainly wouldn't partake in such a thing (to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure that his body could handle food at this point), but perhaps it was socially acceptable to drink at sixteen down here. Or maybe Frisk lied.

The bartender approached them, placing his elbow nonchalantly against the counter and nodding to Frisk.

"Hey, Two. Just the usual."

"And you?" the guard-looking bartender asked as he turned his gaze to the robot.

Said robot shook his head and held up a hand. "I think I'll pass."

Two gave a small shrug, observed the pair for a brief moment, then stepped aside to prepare the meal.

Mettaton glanced around the room at all the monsters, at the warm feeling the torches emitted, wondering how tavern-esque it seemed in comparison to the rest of the Underground. Was everything this Renaissance looking? The bubbling of the other customers served to liven the atmosphere, at least.

"Hey, Frisk!" a shrill voice called from a nearby table, and the protagonist's attention was directed to a little white rabbit in a well worn outfit that scrambled over to the pair, holding his hands out as he did so. His eyes barely moved.

"Hey, Kiff," Frisk said with a smile as they swung around in their seat.

"I knew it was you!" the kid exclaimed, jumping. "I heard your voice!"

"You sure did," they replied and reached their hand out to give him a quick pat on the head. "Your hearing's getting better."

"It definitely is," one of the two remaining rabbits at the table replied, leaning forward slightly and pressing her paws together. "My little bunbun is making great improvements!"

"Moooom!" Kiff whined, to which the third rabbit merely chuckled.

"Kiff, you're such a doll."

"Auntie Rabbi!"

Mettaton felt his breath hitch for some reason, though fell lax again once both women returned their gaze to the cards in front of them and the smaller rabbit scurried back into his seat by the dog that- oh, that's the dog Mettaton kicked in the side. That's nice.

After chugging the rest of the golden liquid and setting it down gently on the counter, the human smiled broadly. They swiveled in their chair to face Mettaton.

"So."

"Hmm?" Mettaton's focus redirected to the human beside him, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think of Temmie?"

Alphys, who shifted slightly beside the robot, center of attention constantly meandering the room to make sure she wouldn't be stepped on at any point, then turned back to her metal companion. _*Cute!_ she muttered, a small smile on her face that only dropped at the remembrance of Mettaton's words back with said furry. _*Or, um, uncute…_

"Cute," the robot repeated, voice wavering a small bit as his eyes fell to his left.

Frisk, then, mimicked the motion he had done but moments before, their eyebrow climbing up their forehead while leaning forward. "Just cute?"

"Yes, darling. Just cute."

They then frowned. Their back arched to its original position and they turned to face the bar once more.

A silence soon fell over them. The robot fidgeted in his seat with his body leaning forward and back, head swiveling around as if to look for someone, while the person beside him simply tapped their fingers against the empty mug.

Alphys, on the other hand, seemed only to encourage Mettaton's anxiety. Her own focus was placed on the three rabbits at the card table, each one too enthralled in the game to pay much mind to them. The youngest one was the most amusing to watch. Nearly every round he would stare intently at the cards in his hand before picking a random one to throw at the center card, however missing by a few inches. The pup beside him would then bark and one of the two women would chuckle, shake their head, pick it up and hand it back to him, explaining why that wasn't the right card to play. He would then rebut something akin to, "I didn't play that card."

This pursued for perhaps a minute or so before the most alive of the three main characters sighed. They opened their mouth to speak, however, kept their gaze on the glass.

"temmie's more than just a cute face."

Both pairs of eyes redirected at Frisk, though Frisk's attention still refused to meet theirs. "everyone thinks of tems as cute and dumb, sometimes annoying. but there's more to them than that."

Once more Mettaton tried to bite his lip, and once more he felt it was too solid to be satisfying.

Frisk merely shrugged, allowing their head to roll onto their elbow as they leaned against the bar, now facing Mettaton, though observing his purple-and-blue striped shirt, which was at eye level with them.

The robot twitched slightly. His arm patted the countertop, anxiously waiting for Frisk to reply, then snapped once. "Really?"

Frisk nodded.

Mettaton turned to face Frisk, a small bit of impatience flaring in his magenta eyes. "How so?"

"well," they continued in a voice that seemed rather drained. They paused, eyes rolling upward, before finally meeting Mettaton's. Their head still rested on their elbow. "temmie's rooming with me because she wants to be in the royal guard. left her family and everything for it. but she wants to get into the royal guard _because_ of her family."

Mettaton nodded, slowly, shifting a little bit toward Frisk and leaning their weight onto one arm which rested against the countertop. "Oh?"

Frisk's eyes dropped back to the counter. "yeah. my papa's the head of the royal guard. she assumed he still lived with me…"

When their weak smiled further fell, so too did Mettaton's, and he arched his back toward them, lowering his head. "Are you alright?"

"Who, me?" they asked. Instantly their head raised off of their arm and their back straightened so that they were as close to eye level with Mettaton as they could get. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired. But when am I not?"

"You looked like I hit a sour note."

Frisk shook their head. "Anyway. Long story short, she begged him to be in and he finally agreed. Now they're training. It's, uh…" They snickered. "It's a worker in progress."

The protagonist began to form a reply when the bartender stepped in front of them, exchanging the salad plate in his hand for the empty beer mug in front of Frisk. The two locked eyes, and Frisk nodded. He then turned to the tap.

"You want some?" the younger asked, looking to Mettaton for an answer after stabbing a piece of kale with a fork.

Mettaton held up his palm. "No thank you. I'm not entirely sure this body can eat."

They shrugged, popped the piece in their mouth, then nodded in thanks as Two placed their mug down beside them. It wasn't until Two left, though, that they picked back up the conversation.

"Oh yeah. I wanted to ask you something."

Through the bustling noise of the tavern, Mettaton tilted his head, eyes trained on the human, waiting for Frisk to continue.

"Have you heard of a talking flower?"

Mettaton squinted. "You mean the echo flower?"

They nodded. "Yeah. It repeats the last thing it hears. They're all over the marsh."

"What about it?"

Frisk blinked, staring into the liquid they swirled around in their mug. "Temmie told me something interesting. Sometimes, when no one is around, a goldfish will pop out of the water. It screams encouragement at her. It screams some…" Their shoulders dropped. "...other things."

"Oh? Like what?"

They paused, their own attention set on the glass as a few pieces of dialogue entered their mind. When the thoughts fled, they continued to swirl the mug before sighing lightly. "Part of me thinks it's a prank with the echo flowers, but since he said the same thing, I…"

"Who?"

Frisk shook their head. "It's nothing. But, uh, just keep an eye out for any goldfish, 'kay? And let me know if you hear of anyone by the name of Undyne."

Alphys's head perked up.

Though, this went unnoticed by the human. They smiled, downing the rest of the beer and sliding off their seat. "Man, that was a long break. Can't believe you pulled me away for that long."

"Me? _You're_ the one that offered to come here."

"I'll catch ya later."

"Wait, what about your food?"

Frisk's footsteps paused, their hands inside their coat pockets, and they shrugged. "Eh. I lost my appetite. Tell Two to save it for later."

"Aren't you going to pay for it?"

They turned back to face the door and waved a hand. "Put it on my tab. Oh, and," they turned their head to gaze over their shoulder, though only briefly, "please don't say those things to Temmie again. She tries her best. She really does."

The pair watched as Frisk dragged their feet out the door, slamming the door shut behind them. Mettaton jumped, quickly faced the bartender, waved him over, and pointed to the food left on the table. "Two- I believe that's your name- Frisk said to save this for them for later."

The dragon rolled his eyes. He seemed to pick it up rather reluctantly, though still set it aside, presumably for a further point in time. Mettaton wasn't too concerned with this. It wasn't his food and it wasn't his bar; why should he care?

The protagonist swirled around to exit, however, was soon met with a small furball stumbling around a bar stool to reach him.

"Ug...why do inanimate things not move?"

The child held both paws out in front of him, flinging them around to fondle every object he could touch, until he was able to successfully pat down the metallic creature.

Mettaton's eyes drooped nearly closed. "Do you mind?"

"Aha!" Kiff exclaimed, jumping back. "I found you! I'm gonna warn you only ONE time, okay? Frisk is MY best friend! So don't go thinking you can just steal them away or anything!"

The robot then squinted, leaning back a small bit before tilting his head to the side. "Alright…" He wasn't exactly planning on interacting with Frisk anymore than necessary, but okay.

"And if THAT isn't enough to convince you," Kiff continued, though Mettaton would much rather shove him aside at this moment, "then I bet Frisk is really creepy to you! Like, sometimes you don't even hear them coming! It's so creepy."

And thus, the weirded-out smile slithered its way onto Mettaton's face as he slowly crept off the chair and onto his high heels. What? Okay? Why are you telling him this?

"That's right," the child hissed in what sounded like was supposed to be a threatening voice. "Back away. BACK AWAY!"

Mettaton pushed the kid aside, heels clacking against the wooden floor. He didn't stop. He didn't bother to open his mouth until they left the bar. He didn't even bother to look over his shoulder until he found his way emerging from the fog separating the snowy town and wet marsh.

* * *

 **Kiff is Monster Kid's twin brother confirmed notreally.**

 **WOO! Now we're FINALLY done with Snowdin (until Mettaton goes back to date everyone).**

 **First off, I OPENED AN ASK FOR EQUATIONTALE!**

Take a look at my DeviantArt, KuraiTsukiMajutsu, or the EquationTale tumblr (it's just called EquationTale) to ask!

 **Second, I feel like Frisk is sort of OOC (out of character).** Is that just me? I don't know. I have a reason for Frisk acting the way they do. After all, the Frisk in the cannon UnderTale game, that's how EquationTale!Frisk acts when they're eight. They're sixteen now. When I was eight, I was a stuck up brat that thought the world owed him everything. People change.

Eh. Maybe this is just me feeling the need to justify myself. Don't worry. I'll keep Frisk pretty much the same, just older, a bit more mature, hormones...you know the drill.

On a separate note, there's a really great song that I just feel like fits Equation!Frisk really well for some reason. It's called Toxicity by System of a Down. I'm not really sure why to be honest. Maybe it's just me...

 **Next, fanart! :D**

Two people did fanart!

AmamillaLaTortilla and Ristorr, both on DeviantArt!

The colors on both of them are wonderful ;u; seriously go look at them.

 **This is random, but** I realize that I've attracted a lot of Mettaton lovers with this fanfiction. Gee I wonder why.

 **Finally, reviews!**

 **NoItsBecky:** I no!? HOW CUD U INSULT RICH HISTRY OF TEMM! IS UNAKCEPTABLES!1!1!

 **Aria:** Oh, I know Papyrus is powerful. But just because Temmie is in his spot does't mean _she_ is. Because she's not. Not really. Cannon Papyrus _is_ powerful- Undyne says it herself. Don't worry, I'll give him credit. Or at least...I think I will. I haven't written that part out yet.

I love Papyrus. I will never underestimate the Great Papyrus.

Though I have to question, if Sans is Gaster, why is Temmie constantly referencing him? He may or may not be (I did draw a picture of him, though, on the EquatoinTale tumblr/my deviantart), but that's still something to consider.

And Papyrus is Great.

Great Papyrus.

The algorithm gave him a great spot to be great in (no it's not Asgore).

:3

 **Amamilla:** And what makes you think that Sans is in Undyne's spot?


	19. He's Captain of the Royal Guard! Duh!

**Do you like updates more on Friday or Sunday nights?** (Eastern Standard Time)

* * *

"I-I-I don't understand," Alphys stuttered, weaving her claws in and out of the space between them. Every since the pair had left The Armory, Mettaton hadn't so much as opened his mouth, yet he found himself forced to listen to her ramble on about this or that, family ties, Royal Guard positions, confusing coincidences he knew too little of to be confused over.

Part of him was tuning her out, feeling his joints relax as the sound of rushing water lapped against the river bed. Another part of him, the one curious as to what all was going on and the backstories of the characters around him, still registered the information, though storing it in random bins he'd have to sort through if he wanted to piece together her words at any point in time. Something like… There was this girl named Undyne (who Alphys knew a very suspiciously large amount about) that led the Royal Guard. Captain or something. And Frisk's dad was a...skeleton? It'd probably make sense later. Maybe. Hopefully.

"Even if Undyne adopted Frisk, why would they call her their dad? Unless she wanted to be a guy, but I don't think… Maybe she does…" She certainly didn't seem very uncomfortable as a lady, though Undyne _did_ act like there was a large surplus of testosterone to go around. "E-even if that was the case! Why would she give her a bone? It doesn't make sense."

Mettaton simply shrugged as he had been doing for most of the conversation. As far as he could tell, Alphys was simply thinking out loud. It wasn't like he could answer her. And if she _did_ expect one, well, he was going to remind her very clearly about how that wasn't possible.

Alphys shook her head, batting one hand against her cheek. "W-what if…? No, she wouldn't quit. She wouldn't do that…"

Frisk waved as the duo passed, and though Alphys continued to stare down at her feet in thought, Mettaton smiled slightly, wiggling his fingers with his palm facing the human. They rounded a corner, and it wasn't long after that Mettaton found his boot sloshing against a deep hue of ultramarine.

"Uck!" the robot yelped, quickly withdrawing his foot and shaking the water off of it. It wasn't dirty water, thankfully. One thing he had to appreciate about being Underground was that the monsters seemed to at least know how to care for their environment. Unless there was secretly fish poop laying on the bottom of the waterfall. Dead fish and fish poop. Yuck.

At the cry, Alphys turned her attention back to her partner, tilting her head. "What's wrong, Mettaton?"

"The water," he replied, nodding his head in front of them. "I don't think water is good for robots, and it's going to ruin my fabulous boots!"

"O-oh! Um…" Her head swiveled around, eyes scanning their environment with a narrowed intention and increased focus, the thoughts from before pushing their way to the farthest reaches of her conscious. "There should be a bridge…"

She led the way for a couple of steps, brushing aside a few weeds and revealing a small wooden bridge that hid behind them, a smile pushing its way onto her face. "...here!"

Mettaton, too, mimicked this expression, striding over and even stepping onto the wood posts. It was sturdy, certainly enough to hold his own weight. It didn't jiggle in the slightest. Though the lack of handrails was a bit unsettli-

Then he looked down.

Instantly, his arms reached out for Alphys, wrapping around her torso and tightening while his eyes were peering at the area below their feet.

"Alphys?" he asked, body tensed and gaze fixated on however many feet below the floor rested. His voice was hasty, almost uneven as he spoke. "There's another bridge, right?"

"Uh…" She held out her arms for balance. "N-no...unless you want to go back through the waterfall, but if the water gets through your boots and into your feet… I-I don't think it's a good idea." But what does she know?

He frowned, biting his lip again (still unsatisfying...he'll probably be out of the habit by the time they reach Alphys's lab at this rate). There wasn't another way around. He was either going to fall to death or get short circuited. Ug, this day was just getting better and better.

"We should try going through the waterfall," Mettaton muttered, though he made no move to step off of the bridge. He seemed frozen, almost. It was enough to cause Alphys to glance over him.

In response, she let out a small, barely audible sigh. "Mettaton, if you want, I can guide you across here. Just close your eye-"

"NO," the borderline-narcissist cut in rather abruptly. "I can get across myself! I just need a little time to gather my balance."

Her eyes turned away out of emotional distress, though were caught at the glimpse of _something_ shining in the water. It was red, bright red, and as small as a pinpoint. When she tugged at her companion's arms to pull away from his grasp, however, he only held on tighter.

"Where are you going?" he hissed, to which she sighed, pointing at the dot.

Both set of eyes drew to it, one more so than the other and a twinkle in that pair in particular. He wasn't sure when, exactly, but the time between him moving his feet and stopping in front of that red dot became a blur in his memory, all drawn away by the blinking ruby glow.

"What is it?" he breathed, face coming close to touching the water's edge but being careful not to let his circuitry too close to the liquid.

Alphys didn't respond at first, instead favoring to press one claw gently against the dot's surface. There was a faint image behind it, though the water made this faded and warped. The descending water parted around her hand, and she gasped.

 _*Huh!? Th-there's a camera behind the waterfall!_

Better yet, one of _her_ cameras.

Mettaton frowned, reaching out to touch it, though quickly retracting his finger as he felt a small zap travel up his arm after touching the liquid.

Alphys's face scrunched. She leaned forward. The water still interacted with her body as if it physically existed in that plane of existence, which was an interesting thing to note. What's more interesting, however, was that her camera was _on._

It was natural to assume someone had taken her spot as the Royal Scientist, but her security system...unless Asgore had told the replacement about it...but then who was her replacement?

"Um…" Alphy shook her head. She glanced over at Mettaton, who was bent down to cling to her with one arm still, nose face-to-face with the machine and fixated with fascination. "It's not very important. Let's just…let's just keep going."

She took a step forward, though not before being tugged back by the robot who still had a firm hold on her.

"But Alphys! Why is there a camera in a waterfall? What's it recording?"

"Um." She then glanced around, to the right once, to the left, then up, never once meeting Mettaton's eyes. "Probably just a documentary. Let's keep going."

Clinging to the waterfall wasn't the problem. Mettaton still seemed somewhat antsy after being torn away from the mystical device, though nowhere near as bad as he was when they were back to being held up a mere wooden plank with air on either side that he really began to fidget. Silently, of course, though the tension was still rather obvious to the one he clinged to. She chose not to talk about it.

It wasn't until they stepped onto solid, dry rock once more that the robot would release his hold, assuming his natural position as leader and carry forward a few steps before turning back to face her.

The light cast onto him from the glowing rocks lining the walls didn't seem like much at first (certainly not enough to stop and catch his breath by jotting down his adventures in his journal), however, when his head swiveled down to his companion's form, it was then that she realized how long the shadow behind him was cast. Mettaton, on the other hand, was at least aware of how much brighter the road behind him seemed as opposed to the one with what looked like large clumps of seaweed sprouting up in his way. They were shorter than him, naturally, so it wasn't like walking through the things would hinder him anymore than simply slowly him down, though that didn't mean it wouldn't be a nuisance.

In fact, upon noting that Alphys was keeping up, he continued forward, pressing one foot into the sea of weeds before him, though entangling it within the leaves and with another step, falling, hands swinging up to block the floor from colliding with him.

"A-are you okay!?" Alphys exclaimed, rushing over to his side and offering him a hand. This was quickly withdrawn, however, when a voice cracked through the sound of rushing water.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced up at the source. It was then that the ghost dino would attempt to press Mettaton down with what little strength she had. "St-stay down!"

Mettaton opened his mouth to question her, though quickly shut it upon hearing the words, "Um...hoi! I'm here wit mah daily repor!"

They couldn't see much, though with what little was visible to Alphys over the tall ledge, she was at least able to catch sight of the average-height white furball, dark grey hair popping over her cheeks and framing both pairs of ears. The fur around her eyes seemed somewhat matted and said blue eyes held a slight tint of red to them, drooping only the smallest bit, albeit a smile still present on her face.

Whoever she was talking to (who was just too far or too short to be seen) must have given a visual reply, as she continued after only a brief moment of silence.

"Yee! We foun...HOOMAN!"

Alphys was able to hear something, a mutter almost, though she couldn't quite make out what.

"Did we fight? um...YUS! WE FOUGHT TO DA DEATH!1!"

The voice picked up again. Something in the scientist's mind rang familiarity, though she couldn't quite figure out why.

"SOUL? um... Well! Acktually! I dunno."

She swore she recognised that voice from somewhere- the second one, the one that was just too quiet to comprehend. The first was Temmie's with no doubt, but the second…?

Temmie sighed. "Okee.. I'll go get Frisk."

The pair watched as she trotted off, presumably back to the sentry post where they had last seen the human she mentioned. Her footsteps were light, though not as eager as before, and her smile seemed to fade a little as she walked.

Mettaton, unaware of the faint voice that had spoken to the tem, waited a moment before beginning to straighten his legs and press himself out of the entanglement of seaweed.

"Alphys-?"

Both froze, however, once the echo of metal on metal rung through their ears and he popped right back down, palms scraping against the stone floor. His breath was heavy, shoulders crushing him under his own weight, but he stood still, waiting for the sound to pass.

Alphys, who had again pressed her hand onto him to signal for him to stay low, held her grip this time. She watched as the tip of a helmet poked into sight from the ledge above them. It hovered closer, revealing more metal to conceal the face of the stranger. Their eyes were visible, at least, or what were supposed to be eyes. There was too little light to see anything clearly, save for, of course, the bright cyan glow emitting from where the stranger's left socket would be. It didn't light up much. The area around its metal was a dull silver color and the rest of the face seemed almost white, though with a tint of blue due to its illuminator. It didn't seem all that important.

The figure whipped its hand across its chest, the same blue glow as its eye forming in the hand's path. Its shape was elongated to the length of a spear, though structure too wide at the ends to be one. Instead, it seemed to manifest into some sort of staff or...bone.

Alphys, however, didn't seem to notice.

All she managed to see was the blue glow coming from the stranger's hands. The rest was hidden behind the cliff.

The stranger glanced around, its glowing eye flashing with bits of yellow as it did so, before it sheathed its bone into the thin air, taking several steps back and vanishing into the darkness behind it. The last piece of evidence that it was still there- its eye- slowly faded out until there was nothing.

Two orangish-brown eyes darted about, her hand raising off of her companion's shoulder. They finally met his own and both gazes locked for a few seconds before tearing away, Mettaton standing straight and once more reclaiming his position as leader.

Upon exiting the seaweed brush, however, a rustling could be heard from behind them.

The duo had turned to witness the same small yellow monster child from earlier, the one sitting on the ledge, rush out with a proud smile preset on their face. The little stubs that served as arms waved about enthusiastically while their legs bobbed up and down to a nightcore rhythm.

"Yo!" the kid cried, and Alphys found herself frozen. Small trickles of water began to creep up into her eyes, though she hardly noticed. Too many thoughts in her head.

Mettaton only glanced between the two once before raising an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Did you see the way he was staring at you…?"

To this, the robot fell silent, though only for a moment. He? Surely this child didn't mean Temmie. "Who?"

"That…" the child continued, completely blowing off Mettaton's question in their own anxiousness. "...was AWESOME! I'm sooo jealous! What'd you do to get his attention...? Ha ha."

The spiked monster bolted a few steps forward before falling on their face, though pushing themself up like a worm and happily replying to the non-asked question of if they were okay with a smile.

"Who?" the robot repeated before the monster kid could run off again. He was a bit more confident this time, no longer letting the confusion seep into his words as he once had. A hand was over his hip.

"Sans!" the kid replied and let out a short burst of energetic laughter. "He's Captain of the Royal Guard! Duh!"

"S-SANS IS CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!?"

The monster kid, unaware of the shout that came as a response to their statement, turned around and sprinted happily further down the path. "C'mon! Let's go watch him beat up some bad guys!"

* * *

 **FriskedAway and AmamillaLaTortilla have both drawn EquationTale fanart on DeviantArt!**

 **I'm going to start uploading (with permission, of course)/reblogging EquationTale fanart on the official Tumblr once I get my ass in gear :')**

 **Don't really have much to say so let's just get right to reviews!**

 **BunnytheBonnie:** I'M SO SORRY OH MY GOSH I COMPLETELY MISSED THIS

THIS REVIEW WAS SO SIMPLE AND SWEET

IT REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING ASRIEL WOULD SAY FOR SOME REASON

XD thank you.

 **AmamillaLaTortilla:** okay you were right Sans is Undyne.

 **NoItsBecky:** I think I said this in a PM, but I'll say it here too XD

I wouldn't exactly classify Mettaton as cisgender. See, my headcannon for the Purple SOUL (UnderTale Classic, not EquationTale) is that she's trans MTF. I sort of see Mettaton as, well... I won't get into that. Like I said, I don't want to make bias.

But I will say this.

Originally I had planned for him to be MTF as well. Though after some consideration, I decided that was a sort of stupid idea (mostly because there was no need for it, and I don't like adding unnecessary elements to stories just for the sake of adding them). So he's simply questioning his gender. Call him a girl, guy, trans, agender, genderflux, whatever else you want, I don't care. I don't think Mettaton would care much either.

So, because of how I originally was going to make him, _I_ wouldn't call him cisgender, though if you want to, by all means, feel free. The only "cannon" here is that he's questioning :3 which I think I said three times now, so you get the idea.

 **Ck:** Frisk, for all their flirting, evidently is not very good with dates.

Tsk tsk.

 **FriskedAway:** Really? I don't even think I'm portraying him very well XD too sassy. Too snobby. Not enough fabulous.

But whatever floats your boat! :3

And **OF COURSE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE EQUATIONTALE FANART! THE ONLY RULE I HAVE IS TO LET ME KNOW SOMEHOW, PREFERABLY SHOWING ME A LINK ON DA (KuraiTsukiMajutsu) OR TUMBLR (EquationTale).** Even if I said no, people would probably still do it anyway...assuming this gets popular enough.

 **nazicreeper69:** Preeeeetty sure I'm white.

Pretty sure.

 **Teh Esprite:** WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

 **Guest (#1):** mmmmm we're gonna have to wait and see ;3

 **Guest (#2):** Who said it was accidental?

 **Aria:** Point, point.

And...I don't actually have anyone for Gerson...heh. But that's a great guess!


	20. Happy Break Time

They sighed. This was supposed to be easy. Grillby had taught them a little on how to bake before his business went under, but this was different. They never imagined that _this_ would be the result.

"I'm sorry," they muttered, sliding the pastry underneath the wooden bench. They rubbed their bare arms once or twice, their hands brushing against the brim of their black sleeves. The cargo shorts around their knees crinkled slightly as they stood.

The human held still after straightening their back for a moment or so, their mind swirling about with thoughts, head hanging against their drooped shoulders. What would Chara say? What would their papa say? Temmie? Uncle Papy? So disappointed… And leaving the poor thing here of all places. They should be giving it to someone who could actually care for it properly. But no, Frisk was here, leaving the poor thing to rot under a secluded bench in a remote area of waterfall.

"I'm sorry," they muttered again, wiping the water from their hazel eyes and lifting their purple-striped coat up off of said seat. Those eyes didn't dare leave the object under the bench as they put it on, more tears spilling out that they didn't bother to dot away. Not for the time being.

The silence hung over them like a wool blanket in a warm spring. They nudged the pastry further out of sight with the tip of their black boot, but it was still visible in the corners of their mind.

They cupped their face in their hands, a few tears stinging their cheeks and legs trembling slightly under their weight. It was somewhat difficult to see, partially because of the water filling their eyes, partially because of the hands shielding them from any input, mostly because of the poison flooding their system, but they kept balance. The feeling was awful. It wasn't like there was much else they could do. It was awful, but what other choice was there? Keep the poor thing and abuse it? Give it to the roomate with the mind of a child? Hand it over to their dad, who was too busy training to so much as come home for dinner? Or their uncle, who...well, Papyrus might actually be a decent candidate, if only he had more spare time on his hands.

Frisk turned around but slid on the damp Earth, their feet giving out underneath them. They were just close enough to land with their bum on top of the bench, even if it meant letting out a small whimper in the process. They reached for the near-empty beer bottle and cradled it before taking a final swig.

Out of liquor, the human sniffled. Their shoulders hung over their knees, back arched, head down, and they felt a few more tears roll of onto their shorts.

"I just wasn't ready for the responsibility."

* * *

 **Too short for an actual chapter, too short to be an independent story...hmph. Guess I'll just post this here.**

 **And also, for anyone looking for the latest EquationTale, I posted on Friday. Meaning go back a chapter and you'll get to see MK :3**

 **Still deciding whether or not I wanna post on Fridays or Sundays. Until anyone says otherwise, I'm leaning more towards Fridays.**


	21. i miss(ed) you

**Do you like updates better on Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday night?**

* * *

" _TELL ME A STORY!" the monster exclaimed in excitement. His boots stomped the ground as he bounced, a grin etched on his face and he clasped his gloved hands together. He turned to his brother, the shorter of the two, armor a bit scuffed with dirt but withstanding. The suit itself was lighter than usual._

" _alright, alright," the shorter said as they continued to walk through the blue scenery, rounding a corner. "once upon a time, there lived a king in a castle. he had a daughter who-"_

" _NO, NOT THAT STORY!" the brother cut in rather abruptly and waved his hand toward the shorter monster. "THE ONE ABOUT THE STARS! TELL THE ONE ABOUT THE STARS!"_

 _The shorter sighed. "a long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. if you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true._

" _now, all we have are these sparkling ceiling stones…"_

 _Seeing his brother's armor begin to slouch, upper body drooping downward, the monster quickly butted in with his own version of the narrative. "THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WISHING TOGETHER CAN'T BE WRONG! KING ASRIEL WILL PROVE THAT. YOU HEARD HIS MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS! HE SAID THAT HIMSELF!"_

" _he sure did," the shorter replied with a chuckle, his armor making small clunks against the stone floor. His eyes gazed up at the sparkling stones above them and he straightened himself. "hey, bro. why don't you make a wish?"_

 _The brother's eyes widened a small bit as they followed the shorter's trail, smile firming and the energy revitalizing his body. "OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WISH FOR MY BROTHER AND I TO SEE THE REAL STARS SOMEDAY!"_

 _Papyrus gave a small push against the bridge of his lensless glasses, continuing to gaze at the stars, unaware that the older of the two had moved to the back wall where another blue flower rested. The older observed him for moment, then redirected his attention back to the stones on the ceiling and let out another small laugh._

" _seems my horoscope is the same as last week's."_

* * *

He narrowed his gaze.

Whatever the human's goal was- killing their king, getting home- they had to pass through here. He knew Waterfall like the back of his hand. Hell, he knew most of the Underground like the back of his hand, but Waterfall especially. There were other ways of getting around, but they were difficult to find and even more so to maneuver. This was a human, not a monster. It didn't know these routes. It didn't know where to go. Making it this far was just a fluke. Snowdin is easy to navigate, and the Ruins… Hopefully Queen Chara was alright. Er, not queen. What did she want to be called? They. What did they want to be-?

A small thump found its way to his ear, followed by another, and even another, like something heavy walking on wood. He rested his hand against the dark pillar and leaned forward.

It didn't matter now. He could deal with all that stuff later, when the human was dead. Or...robot? Human, robot, didn't matter. That thing had a human SOUL; it was going down.

He waved his hand in front of his armor. A long, thin light emerged, shaping itself not even a second later into a bone-like structure. Before the end could form, he broke off the energy supply, leaving just a thin, pointed tip on one side, like a skewer almost, or a deadly pencil.

Despite this, his eyes had never left the target. They remained fixated on the tall human of metal, taking aim at the jet-black hair weaving over its face, a small step forward, swinging his arm behind himself and then releasing on the thrust. Unfortunately for him, the human's reflexes seemed to have kicked in. Their head was turned before, body leaning forward as if to listen to something, and he could have _sworn_ he would have caught them off guard, but the human's head then swiveled, and they froze after leaping back.

In response, he brought forth three more.

" _hit,"_ he thought to himself, summoning them two or three feet beside him so that they could emerge from behind the human. Naturally, the human jolted to the side.

" _hit,"_ he thought again, this time a little bit louder, as if screaming in his head would do much good. He summoned three more bone picks and the human, eyes widened as far as they could go at seeing this, began to sprint down the damp boardwalk.

" _hit!"_ he repeated in his head, teeth gritting and jaw locking. This time, the bones were aimed a few feet farther ahead of the human than they had been. The human gasped rather loudly, screeching to a halt in their high heeled hot pink boots just as a bone pick managed to nip their ankle.

Seeing his opportunity, he swung his hand high above him, wasting no time in bringing to light a storm of bone spears that rained down onto the human. They barely had time to move their hands to their head to shield themself. He smiled slightly at this.

It was over too soon, however, and the human continued running forward, stumbling slightly. At one point, he thought it was going to fall. He didn't let up on the skewers for an instant. When it seemed like the human was going to trip over its own feet, his focus increased ten fold. All that was running through his mind were two separate thoughts: " _hit,"_ followed by, " _i can't let it get to papyrus."_ His kid was safe. He knew his kid would be fine. They had proven themself already in that aspect, and Temmie would have told them otherwise if they were not. If Frisk was up ahead, he would shield them too, but they weren't. They were back in Snowdin. Hotlands was ahead of the human. Papyrus was strong, but he still needed to protect his family.

" _i can't let it get to papyrus."_

When the purple heart appeared in front of the human for the second time after another bone had made contact with their arm, his grin widened. Once more a flurry of blue light descended upon the human, and they winced quite visibly. A cut then came into view. The human didn't seem to bleed despite being very obvious that their inner mechanisms had been exposed on the right arm. At least it was a start.

His smile fell when the human dropped to all fours and began to crawl forward. Though unsure of the intent, he didn't let up his attack. When he noticed the direction the human was headed, his eyes widened.

He still didn't let go. Even after the human had crawled into the mass of seaweed, their body disappearing from his vision, he continued to send row after row of sharp picks, hoping at least one would hit. It wasn't until he himself approached the seaweed that he finally slowed the production and then stopped it completely, the number of weapons present falling to only the single bone spear held in his left hand.

The seaweed came up just barely below the top of his skull. Dark shadows were cast around him. On days like these, kid-sized monsters like him wished they'd been born a bit taller.

"Come on, pal," he said to the underbrush, forcing his voice into a more authoritarian tone as he rummaged through. "If I could _sea_ you, it'd make my job to _weed_ you out a heck of a lot easier."

As soon as the chuckle made its way to his ears, his hand darted through the dark leaves that threatened to overpower his size. His eyes didn't have the capability to give any sort of input. At least, not until his hand had managed to grab a hold of something soft, like fabric, and he yanked it forward, the plants around it parting to reveal the wide-eyed grin of a little yellow monster.

The two stared at each other for what could've been a second, a minute, a year… He couldn't tell. Confusion flooded his body, quickly followed by a sense of defeat. Nothing he wasn't exactly used to by now. So, letting out a small sigh, he released his grip on the child and turned around, trudging his heavy metal boots down the path he had already traveled.

Once back on the dock, he sat himself down along the edge, metal boots dipping into the water beneath him. It probably wasn't good for the suit, but oh well. He could clean it or something. Or have one of his subordinates do it. That's the great thing about being Royal Guard captain- someone _else_ does the housecleaning for you.

His hand snaked into a small side compartment hidden on the inside of the suit. It was meant to store water so the guards wouldn't become dehydrated during their daily patrols, but with his capabilities, he didn't need such a luxury. It might be effort, but he could make it home with just a snap of the fingers if he absolutely needed to. Plus, the pocket had its other uses.

Out from the pocket emerged a phone. It was a simple one, one that gave off the impression the designers were more focused on it not breaking than it being fast or complex. Perfect for someone who kept it inside a metal suit of armor most of the day.

The message displayed to him upon first switching it on would cause the skeleton to frown. Five missed calls, all from a caller labeled "kiddo". He told Frisk not to call while he was at work. The guy learned a while ago that if he spoke on a non-professional level while on duty, he'd end up distracted and slack off the rest of the day. Didn't want another repeat of the king and queen assassinations.

Instead, he opened up his contact menu, which displayed to him five different numbers- dadster, kiddo, king az, papy, and tem. Two were barely used. Only one had a picture beside it, and that was due to her snatching his phone during "training" and putting it in herself. He didn't feel like wasting the effort to delete it.

The second number had a small grey dot next to it, signalling that they had left a voice message. Maybe this really was important? That wasn't something his kid normally did. Confused, he pressed the icon, lifted the mask of his helmet, and slid the phone beside his ear.

"hey, papa," the voice came from the other side. It was soft, hesitant. Almost reminded him of when they had first began to break themself away from their selective muteness.

He remained quiet, and after a moment of silence, it continued.

"i just wanted to say that...i love you. and i miss you. hope you come home tonight."

The recording ended there with Sans moving the phone away from his ear. There was a bittersweet smile on his face.

"love you too, kid," he muttered, mostly to himself as he pressed the number labeled "papy" and brought the phone back to his skull, "but i got work to do."

It rang only twice before another voice echoed through the phone. "Hello?"

It still felt odd to not hear his brother screaming when he spoke, but he was getting used to it.

"hey, papyrus," Sans replied, his smile widening at hearing his brother's voice. It was a nice voice. It really was.

"SANS!" the brother replied in excitement, however gasped when a slight 'thump' echoed in the background. His voice dropped again. "Sans! It's so great to hear from you! Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"nice to hear from you too. funny thing about that. you still have those cameras up around the underground, right?"

"Of course! Why do you ask?"

"well, uh, let's just say the human might have slipped out of my sight."

"Oh!" There was a resurgence of glee in his voice, and Sans could hear it clear as day. "You need me to find the human!"

His eyes narrowed down at the water below him as he leaned forward. "yeah, that'd be good. also, if you could just keep an eye on them, that'd be great."

"Absolutely, brother! Are you planning to battle them?"

His smile fell slightly, a small sigh emitting from it. "if i have to."

"Great! I'll definitely watch out for them! No boondoggling here!"

"great," the older repeated. He straightened his back. "thanks, bro. you're the best."

 _Click!_

* * *

 **Sorry about the last chapter by the way.** I mean the last one of ET, not "Happy Break Time". The wording is awful, and I honestly don't know why.

 **Since I don't have much to say, let's go to reviews!**

 **NoItsBecky:** Hey, it's okay! Don't be sorry!

 **A.M.C.:** Honestly, the idea of a spider baby in Papyrus's role is sort of cute. It's not the mechanics I have a problem with, though; it's the reason. Like...why? Why is it there? How the hell did it end up rooming with Frisk? _Why_ is it rooming with Frisk? It's a freakin' _spider_ ; it would probably die in the cold of Snowdin.

At any rate, it's a little late for that now. I still used an equation to get Temmie in Papyrus's spot; it's just a different one.


	22. Oh thank GOD

**DO YOU LIKE UPDATES BETTER ON FRIDAY NIGHTS, SATURDAY NIGHTS, OR SUNDAY NIGHTS? PLEASE TELL ME IN A REVIEW/PM. PLEASE.**

* * *

 _She clicked her boots together excitedly, the soles emitting a gleeful clack sound before patting the blue marsh grass beneath them. Her front paws pressed together as she watched the human descend. "I cant wait 2 get anotta sOUL!"_

 _The human beside her chuckled, swinging their body around so that they were facing her. They took a few steps down the natural staircase and watched her bring her boots to the edge, then stop. She dropped onto all fours. The human's smile brightened at this and they withdrew their hands from their cargo shorts to give her a small pat on the head._

" _Den we gonna getta see da serfuce an see all da STARS!"_

 _The human shrugged. "Eh. The stars are nice, but you get used to 'em after a while."_

 _This caused her to scrunch her face, eyes narrowing. "Stars are AWESUM! Dey always gunna be pretty an if dey get boring den we can make them change colours!"_

 _The human laughed again, lightly, holding out their hand for the tem to take. She didn't. She leapt down the stairs much like a small dog, motion mimicking the gallop of a horse for every jump. The stairs weren't numerous, and it was only a moment or so later that she had finally reached the bottom._

" _Yeah but birthday candles have the same effect," the human replied as they shoved their hands back in their pockets and descended. "Besides, I get to see a star everyday."_

" _Really?" Temmie's eyes widened and Frisk could have sworn they saw them sparkling._

 _They nodded. "Everyday I see you."_

" _Aww…" the tem hummed, the corners of her mouth tugging upward even further. "Frisk! I wuv u too!"_

 _A warm sensation flooded their body, causing them to close their eyes for a moment to dispel it. The smile was still present, hands still in their pockets, but their head fell for a brief moment and they laughed. "God you're adorable."_

" _YaYU!" Temmie cheered and rose to her hind legs. She then leapt toward Frisk, wrapping her arms around their shoulders. "DA FORMITEMBLE tEMMIE! IS DA CUTEST!"_

" _Sure are." They patted the tem's head, wrapping one arm around her back and pulling her in for a brief second before letting go. "The stars are still boring though."_

 _Her smile fell. "How? Stars are cooute 2!"_

 _In return, they shook their head. "They're kind of like your lights, but they don't move. They're all one color and they stay in the same spot the whole time. The Earth can move, and sometimes it looks like the stars are moving, but they're not. They're always in the same spot. Always predictable…"_

 _They paused, shoulders dropping, head angling itself to stare at the marsh grass beneath them. This was when Temmie would cut in front of them and stare._

" _So?" she asked, taking a few steps back and dragging the invisible leash she held one end of, Frisk clutching the other, with her. "Dun u have ne wishes 2 make?"_

" _...hmmm, just one, but…"_

 _They followed after her, brushing against the blue echo flower with their arm but paying no mind to it. "It's kind of stupid."_

" _WOT!" Temmie screeched, likely loud enough for the echo flower on the other side of the water to hear. "Dun say dat! Cum on, I promise I won laugh!"_

 _They shrugged, their back straightening just slightly as their eyes locked on the tem. "I wish we could go back to the way things were. Uncle Papy was still trying to get into the Royal Guard, Grillby's was still in business, Chara was still dea-"_

 _Frisk froze, eyes locked with Temmie's. The two held their staring competition for a moment or so longer than socially comfortable before Frisk shook their head. "Never mind."_

" _Nuu! I wanna hear!"_

 _Seeing the puppy dog eyes from their temmate, Frisk's smile returned and they shut their own. "Fine, fine. I wish I could see my brother again."_

 _Temmie tilted her head to the side. "Brother?"_

" _Yeah. I had a brother above the surface. He didn't always treat me nicely, but he was still my brother."_

 _When she noticed the tears beginning to build up in her roommate's eyes, Temmie leaned forward, this time wrapping her arms around them slowly, gently, pulling them towards her._

" _Maybe he's been patient. He's always been a patient person. Maybe he waited for me."_

" _He wated fur you." Temmie's voice was even, confident. She wasn't the greatest comforter in the world, but she lived with Frisk for long enough to know how to help them. The most important thing, besides a hug, was to sound sure._

 _Though they didn't hug back, the human still leaned into their temmate. "How do you know?"_

" _Becuz I wud!" she replied rather cheerfully. "An ur dad wud, and GREAT PAPYRUS wud, an a whoooole lotta monsters! So peepo wud 2!"_

 _Even if it wasn't very assuring, Frisk still found themself chuckling purely out of the tem's child-like charm. Their smile returned, albeit weakly. "An nasa peepo."_

" _Nasa wa?"_

 _They shook their head. "Nothing. It's nothing."_

 _Nothing comes of nothing._

* * *

"Oh my god. Mettaton!"

The pair didn't seem too worried about the little yellow monster racing ahead of them. Considering how a few loose wires dangled from the gaping wound in Mettaton's arm, it was, at the very least, understandable. She couldn't pay mind to the familiar face when her only protection was at potential risk of death! What if the arm malfunctioned, and caused… Well, it could cause all sort of problems that her mind couldn't help but toss around her head. He was her only protection against those _things_ ; she had to fix him!

"Mettaton, are you…?"

He limped over to the wall beside them, pressing his good hand against it and sliding down. One leg jutted out in front of him, foot turned so that the ankle wasn't touching the floor. His boot had been torn, unfortunately, though somehow he found less concern in that than he did with the bits of metal torn open like a wrapped gift given to a three-year-old. Several spots along his body gave off that appearance. He wished the damn child-sized monster had the aim of the age he looked.

"I feel like a toy," he muttered in response. His good hand propped himself up, back still leaning against the wall. Whatever served as a nervous system was sensitive to temperature, but thankfully the pain wasn't as intense as it would have been had he remained human. He didn't seem to be bleeding out either, so there wasn't a need to wrap anything. It just hurt.

"But...but you're okay?"

His eyes narrowed in aggitation as they rolled their way over to the dinosaur. "I don't know, Alphys. I just had an over confident seven-year-old spear me like a sack of meat. My insides are hanging out of _everywhere_ and my beautiful pink boots are completely ruined! I'm perfectly fine."

The scientist was about to open her mouth to speak, when a loud beep caught both of their ears, causing both to flinch with the more yellow face stretching into a look of mortal terror.

She approached him, slowly, holding out one arm. "C-can I look?"

"Considering you're the designer of this body, I think I'd rather you did."

So her clawed hand graced over his shoulder, pushing him forward slightly to allow enough room for her to squeeze through. Her motions were quick, as if she expected to drop him should she hold on for too long. One hand grasped a small latch on his back, twisting it and lifting up the panel attached to it to reveal several parts buzzing around wildly. They would have kicked into high gear had they known how to heal the damage, but alas, the only way to fix that was with an outside source.

Her eyes scanned over these. They were all spinning at a constant speed, all working together in sync. The black rubber band running around his gears still held firm with little signs of wear; the wires inside weren't snapped. She pulled on one, pushing him forward a little bit more to check. It held firm. She was almost starting to doubt she had even heard anything when another loud beep came through. It was then her attention turned to the battery panel.

"Oh thank GOD," she sighed in relief. The other parts of him still needed tending to with no doubt, but his most important mechanics weren't the ones triggering the emergency noise.

"Alphys, darling, what's the matter?"

"You're battery's low," she said with a sigh of relief, shutting the panel and twisting the latch clockwise. "We'll have to find a place for you to charge. I don't have any on me…"

The robot frowned, eyes moving from the yellow dinosaur down to the floor in thought, then back up at his companion. "What about the rest of me?"

"Well…" She reached for his bad arm, gripping it at either end of the wound. Her eyes grazed over it at the pace of a snail and a finger gently tapped one of the loose wires, causing him to flinch. "Th-the bone didn't cut very deep… I'd have to open it up and redo some of the wires, but the arm itself is still useable, thankfully."

He threw his good hand down to his leg, rubbing the ankle that had been cut. In return, Alphys's frown only worsened.

"What about my leg? I need my legs, darling! They're too beautiful to be damaged!"

"I-I, um…"

She lowered the arm down to Mettaton's side, gracing her paws against his metal until she could find her way to the wound. The foot itself was mostly unfinished, making it difficult to differentiate between where the damage was and where it simply wasn't covered, but the boot thankfully framed a majority t of the former. She would need to remove the boot to get it fixed, but for now, it was a guide. Some of the wires had been twisted and snipped. The spring that held the ankle in a flexible place was clamped down, and a sprocket was entangled in a mess of other parts.

"You can't walk on it," she muttered, eyes scampering over to his side and fingers rapping against each other. The wire mesh around his innards was sliced open, but most of the actual insides had stayed intact, thankfully, "but I can still fix it. I-I just need the right parts…"

Her orange-brown eyes fell back to meet his gaze. "You might need to be unconscious for that."

"And what about my side? Or my shoulder?"

"Mettaton, um, you're a robot. I built you. As long as I have all the right pieces to work with, I should, um… Hopefully I could fix you…"

"Hopefully?"

She turned away. Hopefully. She might screw up. She screwed up a lot. That's how she ended up this way anyway. It was her fault. It was always her fault. She wished it would stop, but it wouldn't, because she was just a screw up. A big, fat, lying-

"Alphys?"

The ghost dino turned back to her companion at the sound of his voice sharpening. Her eyes widened, body tensing. No, he wouldn't hurt her; he couldn't have known.

"Y...yes, Mettaton?"

He let his body drop a little further, the light in one eye dimming. "I'm assuming a Band-Aid isn't going to help."

Catching this, the dinosaur gasped rather loudly and rushed to the robot's back, reaching for his latch a second time and flinging open the panel. A little blinking icon appeared on a screen in the far right corner in the shape of a battery, a slash going through it. Only a small portion was colored.

Eight percent.

Alphys slammed the panel down, rushing clumsily with the lock and lever, then stepping back to meet Mettaton's gaze. Her hand fell down against Mettaton's side to clasp his good hand. "I-I...w-we have to find some place…!"

"But darling," Mettaton breathed. He flashed her a weak smile. "You said it yourself: I can't walk on this ankle. I can't move with these wounds."

She scanned her eyes frantically along the robot, focusing in on his purple SOUL and then back up to his eyes, which were losing light by the second. Soon she found her breath quick, shallow, uneven. Her hands grasped tightly onto his unwounded arm. "M-Mettaton, please! I-I need to… I need you!"

In response, he merely chuckled. Need him? She, of all people, needed him? That's almost...endearing? The feeling of being needed... What a pleasant feeling.

"Unfortunately, that's not going to be possible." He shook his head, the magenta light in his left eye barely visible through the soft blue glow from a room or two back. "You know the layout of this place, right? Surely you'll be able to find what you're looking for."

Instead of arguing, Alphys simply stared at him. She watched his arm fall limp with the damage that had been dealt and side giving way to topple on top of his cut. The body was shutting itself off to conserve power. She needed to act fast, or it could collapse in on itself.

She then rushed forward. "O-okay! Okay! I-I can go get…" Her eyes darted around. They scanned the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the sparkling stone...nothing. No monsters. Not yet. "...the parts…"

The robot let out a content sigh as response. His lips parted to speak, but came up empty. His mental functions were beginning to slow. She really, really needed to act.

"I-I need you to go into sleep mode," she muttered, her eyes finally falling to her hands. "I mean, if you want."

"How?" he asked, though the voice came out more distorted than it had originally been, with three different pitches stacking on top of each other.

Alphys tapped her claws together. "All you need to do is go to sleep! And then… and then… yeah."

"Like this?" The robot shut his eyes and leaned into the wall behind him, letting his head lull over his shoulder. The rest of his body had already gone limp from a need for power.

"If your battery's low," Alphys said as she glanced her head over to the path in front of them. She knew where to go once she got to the dump, but getting to the dump was something she hadn't done from this side. The only tool she could possibly summon was the hope that she'd make it, "then it should be easy. You should be tired enough to...Mettaton?"

When he didn't respond, her eyes scampered back to him and her frown fell to a neutral state. His expression seemed drained of the stress it went through while he was awake, body relaxed and mind at ease. Peaceful. He seemed peaceful for once. It looked nice on him.

She couldn't reciprocate the emotion.

* * *

 **So I was kind of torn.** I wanted to add a little bit more here, but at the same time, I wanted to update before I went back to school on Tuesday. Haha... I really don't want to go back...

 **FriskedAway did some fanart on DeviantArt that's pretty cute.**

I don't sound very enthusiastic right now, do I? Ah, sorry about that... The thought of school is...taking its toll on me.

Also I wanted to do a mini-lecture on the proper use of ellipses (which I almost never follow), but then my computer decided to shut down when I was almost finished, so oh well.

 **Reviews:**

 **NoItsBecky:** ...welp. I bet you're glad that Muffet has a pretty minor role in this.

I freakin' love her theme, so sucks for me because rip Spider Dance EquationTale, but at least the arachnophobes get a break.

 **Ck:** Tbh I have no idea how Sans works! He's such a complex character with so much lore! It's difficult trying to figure out what aspects of his personality evolved from seeing reset after reset and then removing them to leave the ones that didn't. Seriously...ag. I have to take those away and give them to Frisk, which I guess could make Sans at least not-lazy enough to be in Undyne's spot?

Ag it's hard ;n;


	23. Do You Remember the Shortcut?

Her breath hitched as she felt their gazes all falling on her, their moth eyes following her invisible flame. Their stares trailed her. She couldn't see them, but they were there. She knew it. They were always there, always watching, waiting for a moment when she was at her weakest to strike. They could see her, she found out right after she had died. It must have been the DETERMINATION. They could see her. They were following her. They wanted revenge. Nothing could change that. That's why she had built Mettaton, but currently he was out of commission, leaving her vulnerable and helpless if one should choose to strike.

The small yellow ghost gasped upon hearing a slight chuckle from beside her. Her eyes, which had been narrowed to her feet, shot over to the figure beside her who was currently taking a magic marker to a slightly dented telescope, circling it around the eyepiece. Why…? Well, it didn't matter. Frisk wasn't the person to talk to. This was adult stuff. This was science stuff.

"S-Sans?" Alphys called out into the peaceful scenery around her. Her voice was hushed, barely able to be heard over the sound of lapping water had she been visible for others to actually descry her.

It was then a familiar voice forced up what had been, until this point, a pushed down memory in the collection of Alphys's regrets. Her head swiveled to the right, where a very masculine, buff-looking seahorse was in the midst of flexing one of his biceps to a floating fish head hovering in front of him.

The fish giggled a bit, heat creeping over her green scales. A fin graced through her bangs as the buff seahorse encroached.

"As I was saying, Shy…"

"Aaron!" Alphys gasped. No no no this couldn't happen! What if he sees her!? What if either of them see her!? Their older siblings… oh god, they knew already, didn't they? They had to know. Whoever had stepped up as the next Royal Scientist (because, as much as she'd like to think otherwise, there had to be one) surely found them by now. Those things. Oh geez, and now everyone was going to...to…

Alphys shook her trembling head, instead choosing to exit through the opening to her left. It was darker there, so inside wasn't very visible until she had actually entered the aperture where several of the light-giving crystals glistened. Her eyes, however, were not immediately drawn to that. What grasped their attention and commanded the dinosaur to freeze was not the light source, but what the light unsheathed.

In front of her and slightly to her left stood a metallic cart laced with decorations of frozen cream stuffed inside cones. A small umbrella was perched on top, slanted behind the well-known figure; a tall, slender figure, adorned in a black trench coat with white buttons snaking down the upper chest of it. His hands rested on the edge of the cart, a hole in the center of each, and his eye sockets were pointed down at the floor. There were a few cracks in his skull, which Alphys's eyes widened at the sight of.

"D-Dr. Gaster?" No, but...but he was in Snowdin! How did he get here already?

The man, naturally, didn't look up at the call of his name. He likely couldn't even hear her call.

She took a deep breath in. At least the ghost could still breath. It was the only thing she knew how to do to calm herself. Did she have to? Did she have to talk to them? What if Sans-?

No, Sans isn't going to help you. Not if he knows Mettaton is involved. Does...does he know Mettaton's a robot? Maybe. It's sort of hard not to, but she wasn't really sure how closely he paid attention on his...job. And where's Undyne for that matter!?

 _I-It doesn't matter,_ she thought to herself, taking a small step towards the deformed skeleton whose white floating pupils were directed down to his hands, twiddling his thumbs. _Dr. Gaster is here! A-and, um...a-and he can...h-help, probably…_

"D-Dr. G-Gaster…?" Alphys called out again. She had to strain her voice a bit- it was somewhat difficult remembering how to make a living monster hear her- but he had at least lifted his eyes up.

Starting with her hands, the ghost began to gradually fade into sight, visibility crawling up her sleeves and painting over her pale, fragile form. Her shoulders were hunched up as far as they could go and her eyes fluttered in just about every direction except toward the monster they should've been fixed on, but she was most definitely there, and judging by the former scientist's sudden tensing, he knew.

His own bony fingers moved to the air in front of him, curling around it and rubbing at the emptiness before him.

"Alphys?" the scientist questioned, squinting, as if he wasn't entirely sure this vision was real or just some depressed mirage. His holed hand reached out for her as he took several steps to meet the ghost before him, but she simply backed a few away.

"U-um." In return, Alphys turned her head to the rich blue wall to their side. "H-hi, D-Dr. Gaster."

"Alphys," Gaster said again, this time a bit louder, more firmly.

Before she knew it, a light pressure was applied to her shoulders, and the woman jumped, letting out a small whimper in the process. Two floating blue lights had taken a firm grip beside Alphy's neck. Both looked exactly the same as the ones still attached to Gaster's outstretched arms, save for the glow that surrounded them, however, Alphys was too familiar with this ability to mind much. Her superior had used it so often and so casually while training her that seeing them was almost calming in a sense.

His face regained a more serious tone, mouth straightened into a thin line and eyes narrowing on the ghost, a reaction more typical in his days before the lab incident. His hands folded behind his back as he examined her. Tension rose. Yes, this was a common occurrence back when she had apprenticed under him, but that was so long ago that she had forgotten her defense against the stress of Dr. Gaster's disapproving glare. All that could conjure in her head were the harsh words of regret she'd been no doubt set to receive.

Instead, however, she found the two hands of her former mentor meeting her own, which had been scrunched into a ball up until then. Much to her surprise, they didn't phase through. His glowed ever-so-slightly with an orangish-blue light, but it either slipped past his vision or was something too familiar for the skeleton to acknowledge. The two floating balls of light on her shoulders dissipated.

"Alphys," he spoke, his voice much gentler this time as he rested what served as his eyes onto her gaze.

"Uh...y-yes?" she found herself stuttering out, a warmth crossing her cheeks as her old mentor ran one of his hands over the top of her head. A moment passed where he could hear her breath.

Gaster stood still. It felt as though his apprentice would vanish if he so much as inched a step closer. Did he dare speak more? Would his rationale push through and prove it was only an apparition?

Finally, after a moment, the skeleton straightened his spine. "Where were you?"

"Um." Where was she? Oh geez. Did she even know? The Ruins. She was in the Ruins; she knew that much. But he would want more than that. How could Alphys explain something she didn't even understand? And on such a short time limit.

Alphys shook her head. "I'll...I'll answer...I'll answer any q-questions later." Oh boy. How long has it been since she spoke with another monster? Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. Disappearing would be the best thing to do right now, honestly, but then she wouldn't get Mettaton the help he needed. "I need you!"

Tensing, the skeleton lifted his hands off of her, mouth pursing in surprise. "What?"

"I-I mean…" A heat crossed over her cheeks once more. Those...those weren't the right words… "...I need you to...t-to help because...because I need your help!"

Noticing that his apprentice was trembling, Gaster placed a hand against her shoulder once more. Social interaction might not have been his speciality, but he knew her well enough to feel comfortable providing comfort. If only he knew what it was that was causing her such fright.

"Alphys, what's the matter? You've been missing for almost five years. Now you need help with something? What could possibly be so important that you can't so much as answer where you've been all this time?"

"I…" Alphys took a small step back, or attempted to, but was, however, grasped firmly by her elder. Despite her trust in Gaster, the trembles in her body became much more evident. How was he able to touch her? Mettaton could. After the backtrack in the timeline, Mettaton could touch her. She hadn't tried touching anyone else. Was that it?

There was time to worry about that later.

Seeing as she gave no immediate response, Gaster let out a loud sigh of defeat, removing his hands from her shoulders and rubbing them against his face. His apprentice, while incredibly nice, could sometimes be aggravatingly insecure.

"What do you need?"

She blinked. "U-uh…" That was a rather abrupt change in mood…

"What do you need?" he repeated, a bit more forceful this time.

She pushed her hands against each other and glanced back up at her mentor. "I, um, I need some parts...like, m-mechanical parts. Wires and gears and...and…"

Her eyes turned down to the floor, voice fading as her mind whizzed about in thought. The damage. What did she need? A new spring, new wires, new parts…

"Do you know exactly what parts you need?" asked the former scientist as he pressed two boney fingers beneath her chin, guiding her stare up to his. Another technique the pair was used to from when the older had trained the younger.

Alphys gave a curt nod.

In turn, Gaster felt his smile perking up ever-so-slightly. "Good. Wires, gears...is there anything unusual you need?"

After her eyes were allowed to trail aside for a moment, Alphys promptly carried them back to her mentor and shook her head.

He nodded and removed his hand. Instead of letting it fall limp at his side, however, the skeleton scientist held the bones out for his apprentice to grab hold of. The faint glow around them returned, this time swirling with blue and orange, as Alphys stared down at it. After a moment, she hesitantly drew her eyes back up to the doctor.

"You know exactly what I'm doing," replied him, offering a warm smile of encouragement. "This isn't the first time we've been through this."

His apprentice took another gaze down at his hand before gracing hers against it. He curled his fingers around the target and tightened his grip, the corners of his mouth raising just slightly as a blue aura began to envelope the two.

"Do you remember the shortcut?"

* * *

 **There isn't a schedule anymore, but I'm slowly getting back into this.**

Hi :3


	24. hi this is dead probably

**For the best experience, please listen to Undertale - Waterfall (30 Note Music Box) by Vasodi.**

 **As for me returning...don't get your hopes up.**

* * *

The light that first greeted him as he awoke was blinding. It was a bright white that flooded the room, concealing all the same, and little Meckenzie found himself rubbing his steel eyes to adjust.

Where was he? The shimmering light died down to reveal empty surroundings- emerald grass, midnight sky. Few stars. There were no walls, stones, or even trees. An absence of precipitation soon became abundantly clear to the child standing out in open sight, and they began to question what realm they had teleported over to this time.

A faint trickling sound reached the child's ears, somewhere far in the background and well out of vision. His eyes grazed over the scene, searching desperately for some landmark to spark a memory.

"Hello?" he called out to the overcast clouds glaring down at him. They didn't dare open their mouths.

Meckenzie frowned, huffed, and crossed his arms. Stupid clouds. Stupid field. Stupid life. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

His shoulders slumped as his eyes fell to the grass beneath him. He quickly lifted one black sneaker off the rotting grass and pressed it onto the greener substance behind him. Decay soon began spreading like fire from the area of origin while the purple-hearted SOUL danced wildly around it. A few more steps backward, two half-shuffles to the side, yet the rot continued to spiral along his trail.

"Alphys?" the SOUL cried out, a faint purple beginning to glow in his chest. He paused for a moment, the colored light now illuminating his upper body.

Before being allowed a chance to speak, the decay had caught up with just that second of hesitation and latched onto his foot. While Meckenzie's eyes shot down to the source of discomfort, only one thought had even bothered to cross his mind:

He was finally going to die.

"Alphys!" he screeched. Both hands clutched the bottoms of his already-decomposing feet as the rest of his body crumbled on top of the decay. The lavender light that emitted from his chest softened, eyes melting in the darkness. Movement was no longer an option. Neither legs nor arms would cooperate at this point, the former consumed by rot as the latter flailed about against his will.

"Alphys, where the hell are you!" It wasn't a question, nor did Meckenzie care to make it one. For the first time in his existence, the stubborn SOUL felt not only vulnerable, but completely useless to help himself. It would be embarrassing to have to rely on help from his companion, but absolutely mortifying when the realization struck that she wasn't coming.

"Alphys," the child whined. "Alphys, please, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for treating you so badly, for everyone, I'm sorry! Oh God, it burns, please, Alphys, help me!"

"Kenzie?"

His entire spirit froze. That wasn't the name or the voice he had expected, but he couldn't afford to care. Death crawled over his skin, barely pushed back by the growing light in his chest. He'd take literally anyone.

"Alphys! For the love of God, help me!"

Out of the corner of his dimming eyes, the child noticed a familiar figure approach; even if it was only the bulky, navy-colored boots that stomped into view, he would never forget the sight of those.

With each step that the cousin took, Meckenzie felt his pulse race.

Pulse.

He had pulse.

The Red Sea of terror parted as his own biblically-named family member halted in front of him, crouching, running a hand along his trembling form as if the rot were nothing but some mere dust.

"kenzie, oh geez...i didn't think it'd do this to you…"

This wasn't Alphys, although the aura they both portrayed could've been mistaken for such. Still, he found himself relieved. This wasn't the person he had expected to answer his calls, but as a wave of calming blue washed over him, he couldn't help but find himself overjoyed in the presence of the one brushing away his dust.

A single word was able to be breathed out of the many swirling about in his mind. One he never thought he'd state again, and one he had even scaled the mountain to avoid being flung about by distant relatives donned in black.

"Nathan."

Disbelief followed. What were you supposed to say to something like this? He had no idea where he was, even less of how he got there, and his presumably dead cousin pops out of absolutely nowhere like it's nothing! Is he expected to buy this as reality!?

He trusted those eyes, though.

Those wide, radiant, royal eyes that graced over his form the moment Nathan had decided to roll him onto his back; the ones that stared down with such worry, such care that they could make the most stone-hearted creature melt with a single glance. Meckenzie caught his breath in his throat and lazily reached an arm up to meet his cousin, brushing the side of the latter's cheek with his thumb.

"Nathan, my God, I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead. You're…"

The small boy before him let out a light chuckle and glanced to the side. "i-i'm sorry about the gross stuff...that wasn't supposed to happen….."

"Nathan!" Meckenzie cried. Life flooding his body once more, he sat up violently before flinging his arms around his long-lost cousin. It didn't matter that there was water pouring from his eyes anymore; he had found one, and that was all that mattered at this point. Even if the world hated him and his other two cousins would be lost forever, one was better than none.

"kenzie," the cousin repeated with a half-hearted laugh and pressed his hands against his friend's back. "i-i missed you so much...it's so cold down here…."

Leaning forward to plant a small kiss on his cousin's forehead, Meckenzie smiled, tears still running down his stained cheeks. "We'll get out of here, don't you worry. I won't let anything go near-"

Both children froze as a loud yip barreled toward the both of them. There, a complete contrast of sparkling white fur against the dark green grass, came a small mutt pup, its tongue dangling from its mouth and its tail wagging like it was just now seeing the light of day.

"o-oh geez, toby, i told you to wait until i called you…"

It let out another yip and lept onto Nathan's back. Its paws held firmly onto his shoulders, thus letting it dangle from him like its tongue from its mouth.

Meckenzie took one look at it and scowled. "What is _that_?"

His cousin gulped, unwrapping his arms from Meckenzie's torso in order to shake the dog loose. It landed with its smoll puppy paws on the slightly glistening grass.

"kenzie, this is, um, toby. toby... here's the cousin i was telling you about."

The puppy yipped once more, staring at Nathan with warm, glowing eyes and resting both paws atop his leg.

Nathan shook his head. "no, not that one. the other one."

It barked once more.

"n-no, the...the one that's still alive."

With a small frown, the blue-aura'd child glanced over to his cousin, scanning over the ghost and locking his eyes on the lavender light that protruded from said child's chest. "well, was alive, anyway…"

Meckenzie's attention flickered away from the boy, hovering over to a trickle of water that appeared just behind his friend. Was there always a stream there? No, of course not. A stream that was always there wouldn't just now be parting the grass.

He reached his hand down to the water that rushed past him. It wasn't much, maybe an inch or two wide, at best, and just deep enough to fit his cupped hand in before scraping the bottom. Raising an eyebrow, the child scooped up a small bit of water in his palm before turning to face his friend.

"Nathan?" he questioned, and the boy turned his eyes from his companion to his cousin.

"uh, yeah, kenzie..?"

The water fell from his palm onto the wet grass beneath him, giving a light splash and sitting just above the ground. He frowned at this. The ground was wet already? He poked it. That couldn't be right. The Underground was making less and less sense the more he carried on, though this wasn't the Underground anymore, was it?

"Where are we?"

Placing a hand against the top of his cousin's head, Nathan gently traced a line down the side of the child's skull, finger tips gracing silk strands of hair, weaving around his ear, and finishing with both a smile and a light giggle. "i don't really know."

"You don't know?" replied the child as he stood, taking his friend's hand in his own and guiding the boy up off of the ground. "What do you mean you don't know?"

The blue-eyed boy followed without much resistance. "well, i, uh...i come here a lot, 'cause it's really nice, and i can do different things, like, um…"

Nathan raised a finger from his free hand at the stream that had just formed. To his cousin's surprise, his face showed none of his own, as if he had detected but not bothered to acknowledge the water's presence. With just the snap of his finger, the running liquid froze in place, now a glossy surface to reflect any light that dared to gaze upon it.

The more feminine of the two opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. He trusted his cousin. One arm wrapping around to hug the boy's shoulders, Meckenzie watched in awe as crystallized droplets began to part from the stream, following Nathan's hand. The second Nathan released his grip, they dropped.

"...like that."

"Holy shit, Nathan, do it again!"

The elder of the two chuckled, raising his hand up once more to summon the shards of ice goop breaking away from its mother source. The purple child let out a loud gasp and let his cousin go in favor of kneeling down by the stream. He was seventeen. Or, well, he _should_ be seventeen, although he certainly didn't feel it.

"How?" the boy breathed with his eye fixated on the shards above him.

Nathan waved his hand to the side, the shards disappearing in a small burst of smoke as he trailed after, casually, little Toby yipping by his side as he moved.

"this place," he muttered, both legs bending so that he could find a spot beside his cousin, along the riverbed, "it...i can feel it...breathing."

Meckenzie swung his head around. His eyes narrowed slightly, scanning his family's expression with pursed lips. "Nathan, please don't start going poetic on me. This entire adventure I went on to save you and the other two is abstract enough as it is."

There was a moment of silence between them, the younger watching his older cousin's smile fall. With a light sigh, Meckenzie laid his arm around Nathan's shoulders once more, pulling the latter into him.

"You know I love your poetry, but you can't just throw it at me, darling. Not right now."

"i know, mettaton…"

A shift of weight brought Meckenzie's other arm around his best friend, squishing the poor boy against his chest, and in turn laxing when said child inched up a bit to breath. He couldn't help himself, smiling as he wove his fingers through his cousin's caramel-colored hair. "I've missed you more than you can ever imagine."

Without opening his eyes, the raven-head could hear his friend giggle and feel the weight of his muscles resting against him. There was also the pressure of two little paws patting his side, but he ignored them for the time being. This was their time. He wasn't going to let anything take that from him.

Save for the moment he heard a 'click' in his head.

"...Mettaton?"

Nathan lifted up his head just enough to catch the steel eyes gazing down at him. He blinked and pushed a hand into the soft chest of the eyes' owner. "what…?"

The younger took a moment to clear his throat. "You said Mettaton."

"yeah, i… i did?"

Meckenzie nodded.

In turn, the older squinted his eyes, removing himself from his cousin's grasp and leaning away a slight inch. "i...did…" Was...something wrong with that…?

"I never told you I went by Mettaton."

...oh.

He scrunched his shoulders, eyes moving to the side. Yeah, that was...that was a mistake. That was a really bad mistake. He messed up…

"i-i'm sorry, kenzie, i...i didn't want to tell you yet, i just…"

The silence pressed once more, immediately following a small tremor in the ground.

The younger blinked a few times, his hands gripping the grass to keep himself stable. It wasn't a strong shake by any means, but caught him off guard more than he would've appreciated. He glanced at Nathan, then to the grass his hands had held tight to, then back to Nathan.

"What on Earth was that?"

Nathan squeezed his eyes shut as his arms curled around his knees. "oh jeez, i didn't want it to end like this…"

"End like _what?_ "

"they're…" He rose, slowly, eyes open but now turned to the side to avoid meeting his cousin's gaze. Despite this, he still held a hand out toward the younger of the two. "they're done now, and you're gonna have to go back.

Mettaton took the hand, albeit a bit forcefully, and yanked himself up to his cousin's level. "What are you talking about? Nathan! Answer my questions for once!"

"i…"

The elder opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it in favor of gripping his cousin's arm as another quake ensued, this one much heavier than the first. This time, instead of stopping after a second, the quake only proved to increase in intensity, causing Mettaton to pull his family member in closer to him. Despite the increase, it still wasn't the strong of a tremble, although judging by its pace, it wasn't going to stay like that for long.

"Do what you did to the stream before and stop this thing!"

With a loud growl from his pupper companion, Nathan bit his lip, still keeping his eyes away from his blood relative's gaze. "i can't...they're pulling you out. you'd... die… if you didn't go…"

"Wait! Pulling us out of where?"

"...i mean, die again…"

"Nathan!"

With a deep breath in, the elder gently held onto the shoulders of the child in front of him. Their eyes met for once in the past several minutes.

"i have a present for you, but you...you can only use it when you have to, please."

"Nathaniel, I swear to God!" he screamed in turn and took hold of the elder's own body, hands clutched firmly just beside the neck. "You've answered barely a single question since I've gotten here! What is this place? I dunno. How do you do things? I dunno. What the hell are you even talking about half the time? We're probably about to die and you are STILL PRETENDING I DON'T EVEN EXIST!"

By this point, the trembling earth had grown too intense for either family member to bare, and they found their legs giving way to the ground beneath them. Toby leapt a half-step out of the way before collapsing on his front two paws. It vented a loud yelp, then whimpered.

"i…" Both shoulders slumped under Meckenzie's arms. The royal blue orbs fell once more. "...i-i'm sorry, kenzie...i...i just…"

"Just _what?_ "

The boy bit his lip for a moment. Meckenzie rarely ever used that tone with him. Sure, to others, the sharp words of his tongue were fairly common- Nathan had certainly witnessed it enough to confirm the claim. Although comfortable as a bystander, rarely had he been on the receiving end of his cousin's way with words. Now he knew why the victims always squirmed.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry to end it so abruptly.** I really wanted to finish the chapter but couldn't bring myself to even proofread what I already have. It was supposed to end with Nathaniel giving Meckenzie/MTT instructions on where to find the ballet slippers. Maybe I'll post a little snippet of it if I ever get any kind of creativity for this again. I think it's dead though. I don't know. I won't put it on permanent hiatus, but it's just...I see all these other AUs getting more recognition and I just...I dunno. It feels like a competition now. I hate competition.

 **Robotic Waffle:** You actually did help a lot. I didn't even start on this chapter until you started reviewing. I got a few brief glimpses of inspiration, and then...ick. I dunno. You helped a lot though. I'd love to talk to you if I could.

Whybexwhy gmail. com. Hit me up, if you can. If you can't...oh well I guess. I have a Discord, a fanfiction (obviously), a NationStates, a DeviantArt, YouTube...that's really all I use.

 **If anyone wants me to put basically the entire plot into a summary chapter,** please let me know. I won't do it unless someone speaks up. I have the whole story planned out, it just...I dunno. I just can't push myself through anymore.

So...yeah. See you guys around, I guess. Maybe I'll add some snippets if I ever get to writing any.

 **Hell, feel free to shoot my some prompts for these guys.** I can't guarantee I'll do them, but feel free to give an idea for a little one-shot or something. Because i like writing for you guys. I just don't want to force myself to pop out another shit chapter. It doesn't feel write. Who knows? A bunch of one-shots in the middle might actually help get my mind eager for a chapter. Or not. I don't know my life.

 **Tldr (too long didn't read); **

I'm ending this for now. Not saying that this is permanently dead, just that I don't know what to do with it anymore.

Feel free to send suggestions for one-shots of EquationTale. Y'know, a short story that's one chapter long. But it's with EquationTale.

It might push me to start chapters again. But for now I just can't.


	25. Notes Page pt 1

**There will be spoilers (if I even bother to continue this).**

This is essentially my note page, so no shit there's gonna be spoilers. Also, I do curse. I can't imagine that I'd do it a whole lot on a notes page, but it most likely will happen. If you're offended by that...wait, I cursed in this story before, right? Right. If you can ignore it, all the power to you.

If you haven't already noticed, this is going to have a very conversational tone. I don't know who that would offend, but I guess that's another warning. So you know what to expect or whatever.

THIS WILL BE VERY LONG. I MIGHT DIVIDE IT INTO TWO PARTS OR, Y'KNOW, IT'LL JUST BE SUPER-FUCKING-LONG. I DUNNO I'LL PROBABLY DIVIDE IT.

 **And for the love of God,** _ **please**_ **send me prompts!** I really do like writing EquationTale! I just don't have motivation to keep going along the same plot that UnderTale does. I want to, but it's boring. We all know what's going to happen. Following the same formula as the original game means that the only story you're telling is character development and whatever you can fit into the sub plot.

You know those Tumblr prompts that give you like a line or a starter or something? Yeah. Those could work. I really don't use tumblr, so please, by all means, feel free to submit a review with them.

Did you know that you can add multiple reviews by simply signing out of your account and leaving an anonymous review? Or you could PM me. Or you could contact me on another site. I don't care, just...please. I love writing things. It helps to have feedback from people about what they'd want to see.

 _ **Spoilers start here**_

 **Let's start with something simple. The formula.**

What's funny is that another AU almost used the exact same one to figure out what _their_ roles are. Not saying they copied me (that AU probably existed before mine; honestly I have no idea). I think it's called History Recast. They used ShiftSwap, whereas I used SwapShiftSwap. I wish I knew this existed before making EquationTale. Oh well.

The formula goes as follows:

Character A shifts to Character B, Character B swaps with Character C, Character C shifts to Character D, therefore Character A is Character D.

For example:

Sans shifts to Asgore, Asgore swaps with Toriel, Toriel shifts to Undyne, therefore Sans is Undyne.

Of course, I had to add some characters to the shift/swap lists, as to my knowledge, Annoying Dog doesn't have a shift or swap. Then again, maybe he does. I really don't pay that close attention to other AUs. I just like the designs and the music, heh…

 **The list**

Note: The SOULs were not tampered with. I don't know what the hell I'd do if, say, the Green SOUL ended up as Asgore. And who would go in the SOUL's places? How would we know that they were in that place? It's just best to leave them as is.

Also, as you'll note, Muffet's Spider Babies were supposed to shift to Papyrus, but I have no idea how the _fuck_ that's supposed to work, and I figured that the Tem Shop Owner had a right to be a bit more special than the rest of the tems, so I made her Papyrus instead. I also messed up on Bugerpants and Nice Cream Guy (they should technically be swapped than what I originally had them as), but they were already so interwoven into the story that I decided to just leave it as is.

Dogamy, Dogaressa, Doggo, and the Snodiwn bunnies just swapped with each other 'cause I didn't know what the heck to do with them.

On the original list, there were arrows to make it easier to read. Fanfiction doesn't allow that, so have fun reading each one individually.

Alphys to Chara

Annoying Dog to Temmies (Doggy Village)

Asgore to Mettaton

Bratty to Guard 01

Burgerpants to River Person

Catty to Guard 02

Chara to Toriel

Dogamy to Snowdin Shop Owner (Samantha) (vice-versa)

Dogaressa to InnKeeper (vice-versa)

Doggo to InnKeeper's Kid (Kiff) (vice-versa)

Flowey (Asriel) to Asgore

Frisk to Sans

Fuku to Fuku

Gaster to Nice Cream Guy

Grillby to Catty

Guard 01 to Muffet

Guard 02 to Grillby

Mad Dummy to Mad Dummy

Mettaton to Frisk

Monster Kid to Monster Kid

Muffet to Bratty

Napstablook to Annoying Dog

Nice Cream Guy to Gaster

Papyrus to Alphys

River Person to Burgerpants

Ruins Dummy to Ruins Dummy

Sans to Undyne

Muffet Spider Babus to Papyrus

Temmies to Muffet Spider babus

Toriel to Napstablook

Undyne to Flowey

 **The Timeline**

I'm absolute shit at keeping timelines straight in my head, so to help, I laid everything in plots A and B out.

sta. sh/06fpqddr2ss (mind the spaces)

Again, this is only the main pre-story plot, plus a hint of sub B. None of the other character arch.

Where it says "Frisk's timeline resets to here," I'll get to that when I start talking about Frisk.

 **The Plot**

Let's start with what I wanted to actually happen in-cannon, then I'll get to backstory. MTT falls down Mt. Ebott. Why was he climbing it? The forest around Mt. Ebott was the last known place his three cousins had been to. None have returned from that forest. He misses them, especially Nathan (Nabstablook/Blue SOUL). Nathan was his best friend. Now he has no one. He decides that either he finds them, or he dies trying.

Same logic applies to jumping down some random hole. He's...kind of emotional at that point, and really doesn't think it through.

Then he wakes up and almost pukes because _ew that's his dead fucking bod- wait he's dead?_ Alphys had fixed him up. She did used to be the Royal Scientist, and she _did_ work with human SOULs. She knows what they're capable of, and she needs protection. She NEEDS protection. The Ruins has been a great hiding spot for a while, but they'll...they'll find her eventually. It's just a matter of time…

Alphys is a ghost, so her ability to pick things up is...limited. But she can do it, if only for a little while. She gathers some scraps from around the Ruins and builds a robot body. It's not...amazing...but it functions, so it'll do (actually, many areas are exposed- the hot pink boots were specifically chosen because there wasn't enough scrap metal to finish Mettaton's legs).

Then Chara finds Mettaton. Chara is lonely Demon Mom and needs lots of hugs. I haven't specifically stated this (my rule of writing is that if it isn't necessary, don't include it), but while I was writing, I started getting the impression that Chara liked Mettaton. I have no idea why. I guess the way I was writing body language or something. Either way, she may or may not have the slightest crush on the robotoo. It at least gives her a reason as to actually try and make him stay.

Also, before you go ballistic on me for calling Chara a 'she', it's just easier for me. She and Frisk both identify as non-binary. Frisk would prefer you to call them a 'they', but won't get upset if you don't. Chara will calmly tell you one time that they want to be called a 'they'. They'll remind you once if you forget, maybe twice, but not very happily.

A human being born without genitalia, however, is next to impossible, so they _do_ have biological sexes, much to their dismay. Chara, in EquationTale at least, is female, while Frisk is male, mostly to preserve as much of the Sans/Toriel relationship as I could. You don't have to see them as this, and if you don't want to see them dating, I really don't care. You can call them whatever pronouns you want; I. Don't. Care. They're fictional fucking characters. So please don't kill me.

ANYWAY!

Chara tries to convince Mettaton to stay. She has a mental freak out since the last person she loved that came through was her mother. I'll get more into that when I talk specifically about Chara. Long story short, they feel horrible.

Toriel also lives in the Ruins with Chara. Toriel tells MTT to stay as he is, at heart, a human child, but naturally, he doesn't listen.

Then he meets Frisk. Frisk just kinda goes with shit. Temmie is extremely annoying to MTT, as most of you could probably tell, but she was a good lesson in being gentler on people. He had never seen anyone cry from his words, so her outwardly display of emotions was...unexpected. A well-needed slap in the face of how powerful his words actually are (and he's the Purple SOUL, so they're pretty powerful).

Sans, being leader of the Royal Guard and wanting very desperately to protect his family, naturally goes after Mettaton. This isn't even about getting to the surface; he just wants his family to survive. And the king. Already had a problem with that once. But then MTT proves that he's actually just an asshole and not a real threat to monster lives, so Frisk convinces Sans to let MTT drop in on his usual lessons with Temmie. Then Temmie leaves. Because friendship.

And then the training ground burns down. Because Sans is a lazy a- I mean friendship.

Moving on.

At some point in Waterfall, MTT runs into Napstablook again, and finds out that holy shit, that's his cousin Nathan dude wtf. Nathan tells him that he's helping him get through the Underground, but then a red artifact comes into sight and- oh shit that's a ball bruh WE GOTTA GET THE BALL BRUH!

Nathan exists stage.

Actually, Nathan/Nabstablook is an extremely important character, as he's practically Mettaton's guardian angel. I imagine that, out of the six human SOULs, the purple one (perseverance) has the greatest amount of DETERMINATION. Not enough to reset, so even though Alphys helps, Nathan is a huge part of that whole process. Nathan's a huge part of how MTT doesn't die half the time. Without his cousin, Mettaton probably wouldn't have made it past the rabbits in Snowdin.

At another point in Waterfall, MTT would also run into Mad Dummy, Matthew, the Orange SOUL. Another cousin. He talks about how they were lucky to all escape, and he's not sure why MTT would want to go back to that hell hole of a lab. But, y'know, that's his choice.

Remember the Ruins Dummy with the Cyan SOUL? Yup. That was the fourth cousin.

Ah, then we arrive at Hotlands, with Papyrus as the Royal Scientist. Papyrus is his normal dorky self. His design is...basically his normal outfit, only with a lab coat and a pair of lensless glasses taped to his skull. He thought glasses would make him smarter. His lab is coated with action figures and Bill Nye the Science Guy tapes that people chucked in the dump (who throws away Bill!?). He says that he's supposed to be stopping Mettaton? But his brother let MTT go, so clearly MTT is okay. BUT HE'S STILL SUPPOSED TO BE STOPPING METTATON! So he...gives Mettaton an upgrade. Because that makes sense.

No seriously. "I don't think it's very fair to have a robot face a robot when one robot is only half a robot."

After MTT gets all the customs and what-not squared away, he's off to face...Asgore. Asgore apparently runs a news channel and a...kid's show. A kid's puppet show. And a documentary show. Like, this is okay.

The puppet show replaces the cooking show, and before it starts, he's complaining about how the ratings stink. Then MTT watches him go through some of the puppet stuff and responds with, "No wonder your ratings stink. Take a lesson from the pro, darling. Everyone _knows_ that in showbiz, you need a little drama-"

 _*Cue top lights*_

"-action-!"

 _*Cue bottom lights*_

"-BLOODSHED!"

 _*Cue sparkly purple chainsaw*_

Asgore recoils into himself, pressing the puppets against his metal chest, and shrieks, "WHERE IN THE UNDERGROUND DID YOU GET A CHAINSAW?! THIS IS A FAMILY FRIENDLY PRODUCTION!"

Asgore refrains from harming Mettaton in any of these circumstances because Papyrus had specifically set up an area for them to battle more "fairly" in. Asgore is a-okay with fair fights.

Right after a quick run-in with River Person- or, uh, Burger Person, as he's known- Mettaton enters the CORE, where he must confront Asgore. Asgore then gives some winded speech about how he doesn't want to do this, but he has no choice. They already have five SOULs, and only require two more to be free. Even after death (yes, he is a boss monster SOUL that was stuck inside a robotic suit in order to stay preserved), he must follow his son's law and take Mettaton's SOUL. Then Papyrus knocks on the door, yelling, "WAIT! STOP THE FIGHT! IT'S LOCKED! SOMEBODY OPEN UP THE DOOR!"

Asgore sighs, lowering his trident ever-so-slightly. "I knew he would do this. Papyrus is such a kind soul. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be solved through a simple cup of tea. If it could, I would have more than happily set up a table."

Then they fight, Asgore gets his limbs blown off, you know this story. The caller was Toriel, whom Chara hurriedly motioned over once she saw what was happening on the television. Toriel was very...displeased.

"Asgore!"

Asgore's eyes widened. Was that who he thought it was? She'd be the last person he expected to call in… "T-Tori…!"

" _Don't_ call me that. I have been trying to call you since I saw your weapon and I swear, if you so much as _touch_ that child, I'll-"

"Tori, the fight's over."

She very angry ghost mama. Veeeeery angry.

In the end, Asgore powers off, and Papyrus finally gets the door unlocked. Alphys had checked Asgore to make sure that he was still alive- it's fine, just the battery- which Mettaton relays to Papyrus. Papyrus happily thanks him and hugs Asgore before dragging the body and limbs back to his lab.

He doesn't mention that Mettaton would need to take a SOUL from a monster to cross the barrier. Either he does this earlier, in a casual conversation, Nathan mentions it at some point in Waterfall, or Alphys tells him that he'll need a SOUL at the same point she does in Classic UnderTale. I'm leaning mostly towards the last choice, maybe the first, most likely not the second (but it's still an idea). I love the idea that Alphys still lies and uses people, even after being dead. She lied to Mettaton, pretending to be guiding him toward his own self-interest, when in reality she just wants to use him as a shield. Getting to the Lab was less about customizing his outfit and more about outfitting him in proper gear, making sure everything functioned, etc. Yes, this would also benefit him, but she intended on keeping him in the Underground with her. He hoped to leave, even though the longer he stayed down, the more he realized that it'd be impossible to just return to his old life. Frisk also mentions in the date at MTT Resort (renamed; haven't thought of the new one yet) that they were given a choice to stay, too, and felt like they _had_ to keep going, but realized that there was no way they could leave everyone behind. Of course, it's a bit different for Mettaton- you think the humans would let a robot be a part of their society? Nonetheless, Mettaton is anything but static.

Alphys changes too. By the time they defeat Asgore, it's clear that Mettaton has no intention of staying Underground. She couldn't stop him, and he'd find out eventually that he needs a SOUL of some kind to keep going. I'm still leaning towards her telling MTT this after defeating Asgore, which would give a reason for him not to try taking any SOULs up until that point.

Then he faces Frisk. Frisk warns the pair once more about what'll happen above ground and shoots a few questions at the two: Did anything down here matter to him, and whoever was traveling with him? Clearly he had an extra set of hands to guide him, although Frisk still wasn't sure of whose they were. What was the purpose of being down here? What lessons had been learnt? What would they do once they made it to the surface? And for the helper especially: Is there anything you would've done differently, if you knew how?

Then Mettaton is forced to face King Asriel. King Asriel is strong, he is determined, he is...easily defeated, and reduced to a trembling mess of fur curled up on the hard floor, whimpering with wide, fear-stricken eyes, "Please don't kill me."

Mettaton sighs. He kneels down to the child and reaches out a comforting hand, only his finger tips managing to grace the fur before the boss monster's body is annihilated in a mere second. The trajectory at which the pebbles descended upon him sends dust scattering, and before Mettaton has time to even lean back, its SOUL is taken, and crushed.

Here enters Fishy the Fish. I was contemplating having Fishy steal Chara and Frisk's SOULs, but that just sounded a little...unnecessary, I guess. Since Nabstablook has two SOULs (Nathan's blue SOUL and the puppy that he fused with), as long as Fishy can collect the three that escaped containment (the cousins), then everything's good. Or bad. Depends on whether or not you're Fishy.

Flowey fights you because he thinks you're Chara. Fishy fights you because she doesn't know what else to do. Just as Flowey becomes single-minded after death, so too does Fishy, or Undyne. You can see this in the Undyne the Undying fight in Classic UnderTale- literally all of her energy is going to taking you down. She _can't_ do anything else. To say she's one-track-minded after death is practically canon. Her one track to be on is finding Alphys. You're something new. Maybe, just maybe, you can help. I mean Mettaton. Except I _do_ mean you, because if any of you read the summary of the story, the player is still essential to the plot. The player is the whole reason that any of this ever occurs in the first place.

Anyway, blablabla, shit happens, you defeat Fishy, you go free, but Alphys is still following you because she's scared, and then she tells you about how you need to go back and finish the game and free everyone or...something. Seeing Undyne like that...she didn't even know Undyne was dead! Yeah, this weird fish thing occasionally would talk to her, but...she didn't know that was Undyne. It...it never told her.

Maybe it couldn't bring itself to face her in the emotionless state it was in.

To be continued in part two.


	26. Notes Page pt 2

I honestly don't remember most of what I said in part one, and this is so dead now that I don't really care to reread it. Literally all motivation and connection I have for UnderTale is dead. I'm sorry. It's not really anything that anyone did (everyone says the "cancerous fanbase" made them leave, but for me it's just a natural cycle that must come to an end, as it does with every fandom I enter and leave). But like, I really wanted to finish it. I REALLY wanted to finish it. But now I don't. Now I have absolutely no desire to even _touch_ anything UnderTale again, except two or three comics I'm following (mostly Handplates). Right now I'm really into Steven Universe and Pokemon. Heh. Hehe.

That being said, it also means that I won't hold back with the details I had planned for EquationTale (or at least those that my brain hasn't forgotten yet). So I left off on the end of a normal run, right? Yeah, something like that. If you noticed in the normal run, Mettaton has dated basically nobody. Except Sans. He went on a "date" with Sans. There's your bone, MettaSans shippers.

Oh, and if you count that one in Hotlands with Frisk. I never really counted it as a date since it was mandatory to continue to the end, but eh. You could count that. I think I forgot to mention that last time? Yeah, so the Frisk "date" is basically more bad puns and more hints that Frisk knows _exactly_ what's going on. Haha.

Anyway. Pacifist. He goes back to "date" Temmie. Learns more about being sensitive to people. Probably makes Temmie cry for a second time. I dunno. I really enjoy writing about sad Temmie.

The "date" with Papyrus- there's a bone, all you Papyton shippers- is rather...interesting. While I'm going to keep my opinions out of this for the most part, I will admit that I have nothing against Fontcest. Oh yes. Sue me for not automatically hating the incest couple. I...have issues with _some_ of the people who ship it, but...I'll keep those to myself. Just know that while I don't have anything against the couple, it'd be pointless to add it into the story. Remember when I said that my motto was to stray away from the unnecessary? Yeah. That relationship is completely unnecessary. Being in the Alphys/Undyne role means that they should have a close relationship, but by all means, I'm sure that a brotherly one counts. So that's what I was going to get at more or less.

You see, Sans never really takes time to see his family much anymore. If you look at the timeline, it says that Sans kills one of the SOULs. Or, uh, runs into it. Or something. I dunno I kind of forget. But in essence, he has an encounter with a SOUL that forces him to realize humans are a very real threat. He figured that three, four were just coincidental, but after that, he realizes something is very wrong. There are people falling down for a reason, and he needs to get it taken care of. He needs to be ready- to train. And so he does! ...at the expense of seeing his family less and less. Papyrus, busy with his job as the Royal Scientist, doesn't have a whole lot of time to spend going all the way to Waterfall (or even Snowdin for that matter); there are problems to be dealt with and words that must be looked up before he can do _that!_ And all those weird things in the basement. Gotta take care of those, too.

Being away for so long can hurt a relationship. Like, a lot. When Sans stops visiting, Papyrus begins to believe that his brother no longer cares for him- even if this is just on a subconscious level. He has bouts where he can't sleep at night, or where he'll cry himself into a coma. His work is suffering. The poor guy can't even get into his Bill Nye VHS tapes properly! He doesn't know what's wrong with him, but he knows he needs the emotional support of his brother.

And his brother misses him, too! Hell, Sans even sends a letter to Papyrus! He just...forgets to sign it. And evidently, Papyrus can't recognize his own brother's handwriting and just _assumes_ Mettaton can write in Wing Dings. This makes sense.

Either way, he takes Mettaton to a place very close to him, a place Sans and him used to play at all the time when they were children: The Dump.

Woo.

Long story short, Sans and Papyrus reconcile, Temmie pops out of nowhere, and the brothers admit their love for one another. After all, they're brothers. Pretty damn close ones, too.

The True Lab was something I was thinking about for a while. Alphys's backstory is probably of one of the most detailed ones I worked with. Yes, she made the Amalgamates, which you fight as you make your way through the the True Lab. I didn't really put much thought into whether I want them to be the same characters amalgamated or I wanted to switch them out with someone else. It's sort of hard to keep track of where everyone is...I dunno. What I do know is that once you reach the end, you see five containers: a Green SOUL, a Yellow SOUL, and three empty, open ones.

Though Mettaton is much less concerned with this than he is with the things trying to _kill him._ I was going to make him make a big deal that he didn't buy chisps, and therefore, it wasn't the food that they were going after. They were trying to go after Alphys, who was constantly screaming whenever one was near, and when one wasn't? Mettaton couldn't help but harass a story out of her. It didn't work so well.

Mettaton becomes cornered by these containers and the amalgamates in front of him. Just as it looks like those _things_ are going to droop their goop all over him, Papyrus rushes in to save the day!

"I bet you're wondering how these guys got here," the skeleton says, petting one on the head and laughing as it nuzzles him. "I have absolutely no idea!"

Alphys shifts her feet.

He continues on about how he found them while everyone was looking for Alphys. Then he feeds all the amalgamations and leaves, also leaving Alphys and Mettaton to speak to each other one-on-one. She explains her involvement with the amalgamations and DETERMINATION experiments. She yammers on about how she built Mettaton a body not to be nice, but to help him protect her, just as she had tried with all the other humans that passed through the Underground and died. Alphys _did_ know of Mettaton's cousins, though not that they were all related. Well, she didn't know until Matt, the Orange SOUL, fell down. That guy wouldn't shut up about his family. It was actually rather sweet… Then she put the pieces together. ..unless Matt fell down first? Actually, he might have. I don't remember.

Mettaton shares a little bit to her about his past as thanks for opening up to him about the truth.

Yada yada yada. Mettaton makes it back to Asriel (again) who barely even puts up a fight this time. Also, Chara steps in. Like, barely even a minute into the fight. At first, Asriel is so, SO happy to see them, but quickly realizes that the feeling isn't mutual. Chara begins to yell, which morphs into screaming and towering over the poor goat child. Chara loves Asriel, but...but their mother? HOW. COULD YOU KILL. MY MOTHER.

"Your mother? I-I don't understand…"

Chara grabs him by the collar, the point of their knife brushing against his soft fur. "Chloe. Fourth human. Yay tall. Long, straight brown hair. Green dress? Apron? Frying pan?"

When the look of confusion doesn't seem to wipe away, Chara rolls their eyes and drops their adoptive brother to the ground, huffing and turning their heel. "GREEN SOUL."

Asriel proceeds to shit his pants.

Sans comes running in. Panting, of course. Even with all of his training, his armor is still pretty heavy.

"Az! *huff* Mettaton! *huff* stop the fighting!"

Sans glanced over at Chara, knife poised toward their chin and their back turned to the king in despair.

"woah, is...everything alright?"

"SANS MAKE SURE YOU TELL THEM THAT FIGHTING IS VERY BAD!"

Papyrus had finally caught up. Seems like the two brothers were talking during their own "date" and had come to the conclusion that they had to stop Mettaton and the king from harming each other. They (Papyrus mostly) were thoroughly convinced that if they could get the robot and the king to befriend each other, maybe they could think of a more peaceful way out of this…?

And Temmie follows after. Temmie _always_ follows after.

Finally, Frisk arrives, and upon seeing Chara, sprints up to them in a big, warm hug. See, unlike Sans in the original UnderTale, Chara and Frisk had known each other before Chara locked themself in the Ruins. All this time, Frisk was dying to see them face-to-face, to wrestle like they used to, the two- no, three- of them, reuniting with Asriel and forming the tornado trio of chaos that they once were. They really, really missed those days…

Then Chara and Frisk talk casually for a whole five seconds, of which Chara gasps a bit.

"Wait, is that...Temmie?"

"Uh, yeah, why-? Oh wait you're allergic to temmies."

Well shit.

Then Asgore comes in 'cause he's super happy that ¾ of his family are in the same room and he wants them all to hug or whatever.

They both respond with, "DAAAAD!"

And then Papyrus and Sans hug each other and Chara makes fake gagging noises.

Then Papyrus asks why Temmie called them all here. Except Chara. Chara came on their own accord.

Temmie responds by saying that a little fishy told her to get all her friends in one place...for a party!

The last movement in the group of six is Frisk responding with a look that they had just shat their pants. They turn to Temmie. "...a fishy?"

Well, the rest of their unspoken question was soon answered when they all become entangled in...fishnet? Yeah. We'll go with that. A shit ton of fishnet to the point where they can't even wiggle. Then that little fackin' gold fish shows up.

Most of them try to wriggle their way free- Sans is confused, Asriel is crying, Frisk is frozen with fear, Chara's screaming something about being able to reach their knife, and Papyrus and Temmie are desperately attempting to chew their way through the net. _Much_ to the reader's/player's surprise, it's not working.

Fishy laughs about how she's gonna kill Mettaton, traps him in a little box so he can't move, blablabla, laughing...laughing...laughing. He's almost dead. Then she lets out a startled shriek as the blade of a knife whizzes by her, even yanking off a few of her scales. She turns back to the six in rage. DON'T. FUCK UP. HER PLAN.

Yeah so then they fight and I'm pretty sure you know what happens. Basically, Undyne's super sorry or whatever and she just wants Alphys back. Mettaton ends up keeping Undyne (Fishy) for Alphys as a pet goldfish. Dead ghost lizard Alphys can smooch a smoll goldfish. Yes.

Then everyone's standing on top of the cliff, watching the sunset. Or rise. I don't remember. It's been awhile since I've done anything with this game. Either way, Temmie loves it, and Frisk just loves seeing her so gosh darn happy. Temmie runs off, Papyrus and Sans following after. Asriel hurries off to make sure they don't get into trouble- he is king, after all, and wants to be the first monster to meet the outside humans, but also wants to talk to Chara later, in private. Maybe with Frisk, but at least not with Mettaton around.

Frisk shares a heartfelt moment with Chara before following off after Az and the rest of Frisk's family, leaving just Mettaton, Chara, and an Alphys that only one of the other two could see. She wasn't going to make herself visible just yet.

Remember how Chara had a crush on Mettaton in the beginning? It comes back around at the end, where they admit...not necessarily that they like him, but that they don't want him to leave them. Either way, they won't force him if he wants to return to his family.

This is where I'm a little iffy about. For the genocide run (which I was very hyped to write about, by the way), of course it would start by having the player become bored and reset. That only makes sense. But then what about in-story? Why would MTT reset? Or Alphys? _Would_ they? Would Frisk reset once they get their DETERMINATION back? Or Chara? Or Undyne? Maybe one of the other SOULs? The only plausible thing I could think of was if Chara fell off the cliff, died, and MTT reset for that purpose. But...I don't know. It's dramatic- I could play it off just fine. It just seems really random. But why else would the timeline reset?

I also tossed around the idea of having it set in a different timeline entirely, where this is Mettaton's first time falling down. Alphys and Meckenzie would have no memories of their previous runs, since there would be none. It'd also give a reason for Alphys to...how did I word this?

"...install a voice command instead of a personality stabilizer."

Yeah. I was having trouble coming up with why Mettaton would even do genocide in the first place.

Then Frisk wouldn't have _their_ memories of the previous runs that didn't happen, though, which would be a bit more boring in the background, and to top of it off, it really didn't seem to be in the _player's_ personality- y'know, the whole two traits I assigned to them- to just straight up do genocide on the first run. Maybe if I wrote some more it would come. I don't know. I guess that can be left up for interpretation.

Either way, I imagine the difference being that Meckenzie listens to Alphys, who instinctively commands him to kill every monster they come across. She immediately regrets it, but decides that it's for the best. The big turning point for her character would be killing the temmies, of whom she finds absolutely adorable. Meanwhile, Mettaton and Meckenzie would slowly become two separate entities entirely. In the pacifist run, Meckenzie learns life lessons and discovers more about himself that he hadn't known before. He begins to realize his flaws, explore his gender identity/expression, accept himself, reconcile with his cousins, and make friends that truly teach him to enjoy life. His outwardly actions, displayed by the Mettaton body, express who he is as a person. They're in sync with each other; Meckenzie and Mettaton are almost completely one.

In genocide, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Meckenzie does not want to kill, but for whatever reason (still going with the voice command), he is forced to against his will. At first, he's merely a bit shaken. His major turning point would be, first, taking out Toriel (who doesn't really die, but scolds him for going down the wrong path and goes to warn Chara), and later, Chara, who doesn't quite believe her adoptive mother at first until Mettaton turns on her (I almost proofread that as 'turns her on' woops-).

Funny thing- Mettaton doesn't turn on them 'til the very end. They tell him to just stop; they can help him get better together! And he...he hugs them. He's crying. Chara...Chara finally helped somebody. They smile. For all their life they felt completely pest-like and worthless. They finally managed to help someone- to stop a genocide. Maybe Frisk was right. Maybe you didn't always need violence to-!

Oh boy, the look on their face when the knife tore through their back!

Shock was the main emotion, though once the situation had been assessed, Chara felt enraged, betrayed, and above all, heartbroken. They could only mutter the word, "Why?" before collapsing in Mettaton's arms, their Red SOUL emerging from their body. Mettaton began to reach for the strange object much like his own, but the moment he had laid a finger on it, it cracked- once, twice, finally splitting apart into several pieces, leaving both party members to face what they had done. It was said that a human SOUL remained ever-stubborn after death, refusing to disappear as the monsters had. Something like this was unheard of. Could there be a moment, even a single instant, where the human desperately wanted to cease existance so much that it actually happened? Was that the other side of the coin called DETERMINATION?

Meckenzie wasn't the same after that. He hated his new body. He hated his new companion. He wanted to go home, but Alphys kept saying that home was _this way, this way!_ Having no one else to trust, he really had no choice but to follow.

Alphys told him to avoid Temmie and Frisk, so he did. He avoided most anyone that he could, because coming into contact with someone usually resulted in their demise, which never failed to make him feel worse than he already was.

This has been sitting in my Google Drive box for two months and I don't even have enough motivation to finish this. Comments seem to give me a temporary mostivation bonus...so I'm hoping to post this, get at least a comment or two, and then have enough energy to finish going over the genocide run and then make a list of all the characters with their archs.

Since I'm only planning on uploading two more times, now would be the time to ask questions. This story's so old I doubt its followers even remember what it's about anymore, but if there's something bothering you, please, feel free to ask. Most likely, I'll reply.

 **Sue Doe Nym:** Thank you.

 **Robotic Waffle:** I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I hope you're doing better now.

Is your email gmail? I'll try that since you haven't given me any other account names (feel free to shoot a message to my YouTube if you gotta).


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